The Infinatus
by Hideout Writer
Summary: One OC...created by powers unknown...sent to find the pieces to an Ancient puzzle...  Watch as Ajax travels through time, space, and alternate realities to find the pieces of a key to The Infinatus.
1. Chapter 1

_Ajax. The name tumbled over and over in the writer's mind. He needed someone to send, someone he could trust._

_With a sigh, the writer sat down. He had known about alternate realities for some time, but he never knew that the stories written by bestsellers such as James Patterson were true, albeit in a slightly different way than most thought of truth and reality. He knew that there was something he was supposed to do, but he never could put his finger on it. Until now, that is._

_"I might as well get started." he muttered, leaning back in his chair. He had been researching the idea for some time, and was finally ready._

_"…relatively thin, wiry strength, wings…" he paused to flip through a leather-bound tome, jotting down a note here and there. "…likes metal and hard rock, wears an orange jacket with royal blue trim, jeans and a white tee, combat boots. Let's see, can't have perfection or he'd never make any headway. People are able to detect Gary Stu types so easily these days, and it's game over after that. We'll just give him a first-generation iPod. Brown hair, cropped, and in the 'John Sheppard messy' style. Piercing laser blue eyes, a watchful guarded expression. We'll give him a good pocketknife and a Leatherman multi-tool, no telling what kind of trouble he'll get himself into. Hell, we'll throw in a basic tool kit to go with. I guess I'll just put that in his backpack…"_

_The writer continued on, working out the basic appearance and personality of his creation. After four hours, he stopped, yawned, then after he flipped the lid closed on his laptop so it would go to sleep, he closed the leather-bound books he had strewn around the room, snapped off the light, and went to bed._

"That was the day I was created. He decided to call himself 'Hideout Writer', mainly because the room he did all his writing in was referred to as the 'Hideout'. Rumor has it that he wrote that room into existence before he did anything else." the stranger said, sitting at the bar. "I'll take a Sprite. Time for me to prepare for the night." This was directed at the bartender. "Thanks. Now, as I was saying, this man had found out how to send something -or someone- into different realities, ones that paralleled the works of fiction in his world." He paused to appreciatively sip his Sprite. "After he finished creating me, he gave me this," here the stranger removed a key from one of his pockets. "and told me to go to the Stargate reality. He said that there was a door in Cheyenne Mountain that would serve as a link between this reality and that one, but only when used with this key." He put it back in his pocket, patting it reassurance. "Well, it was great ratchet-jawing with you, but I have to shove on down the road. I highly doubt you'll ever see me again." With a final, jaunty wave, the man laid down a twenty on the bar to cover his drinks and the tip, and left.

I slammed the door after I got in, making sure the door latched. The car I have now is a piece of crap, but it runs, and gets an average of thirty-eight miles to the gallon. Sometimes I wonder if the car can actually hear and understand me, because occasionally, the miles to the gallon rate gets pretty bad, then I threaten to find myself a giant can-opener, and the miles to the gallon pick right back up again. Either way, I was not yet close to Cheyenne Mountain, and I needed to get there tonight. I'd probably sleep in some crappy motel as soon as I got there.

The drive was uneventful, and the motel seedy. I wearily paid for one night, and passed out on the bed, not even bothering to get under the covers. I woke again in four hours, refreshed, just as the sun was rising. I left a tip for room service on the table, and left, dropping my key card at the front desk as I walked out.

No one so far had noticed me but I saw several well-muscled men looking at me as I walked to my car, and I knew they weren't going to be good news. Sure enough, they weren't. Just as I was sliding into the driver's seat, they approached.

One of them pulled a gun, and I forced myself to relax. This wasn't going to go well if I got twitchy while they had weapons trained on me.

"Gimme your money." the leader said.

"Okay. I'm going to reach into my left pocket, and pull out my wallet." I said, wishing my relaxed demeanor didn't sound so forced. "Now, I'm going to open it, and hand you the cash I have inside."

Making sure to keep my hands where they could see them, I withdrew all the money, which came to seven hundred dollars and seventeen cents. They snatched at the bills, and thumbed them, checking to see if they were counterfeits. Satisfied, they left, and I drove out of the parking lot with a sigh of relief though on the inside I was boiling.

I was pissed that they had the temerity to rob me in open daylight, but with my weapons locked in the trunk, there was little I could do to stop them. Cheyenne Mountain was roughly twelve miles away, and I jacked in my iPod at the light, having decided I would listen to a little Hammerfall before I got to the mountain.

_Hammerfall, we will prevail. Hammerfall, let us sail_.

The drive was over before I knew it, and I pulled in at the parking lot near Cheyenne Mountain. After retrieving all my gear, I locked the car, and walked to the gate where a pair of guards patrolled back and forth in front of the complex. I knew that this would be easy to do, but I felt like playing nice instead of infiltrating like some filthy intruder.

"Please identify yourself." The man in the guard shack said as I came forward.

"My name is Ajax, I have business here." I said, holding up my ID.

"Right. I'll just call ahead, and see if anyone is expecting you." The guard disappeared back into his shack before coming back out for a moment. "Wait here."

"Of course." While I waited, I looked around a bit, trying to feel out the defenses available for use against me should they try anything stupid.

"You're good to go," the guard said, reappearing. "after we search you for drugs and weapons."

Well, that was to be expected. "Let me make it easy here, sir." I said. "All my weapons with exception to a pocketknife and a Leatherman multi-tool are all in the pack, and sewn in place until I get to where I'm going." I shrugged off the backpack, and handed it to him. "You should find that there is a sheath knife and a matched set of forty-fives in there, along with some odds and ends."

After he accepted the backpack, I pulled out the pocketknife and the Leatherman. After examining my pack, he set it down on the ground and retrieved a plastic wand from the guard shack. I presumed it was a metal detector, or maybe a drug detector. It didn't matter, as I came up clean. Just then, a Humvee came out of the tunnel, and the guard handed me my pack. "You're good to go." he said. "The two in the Humvee over there are your escorts. Don't try anything funny, or the whole base will come down around your ears, understand?"

"Yes sir." I replied seriously. "I won't do anything."

"Good."

With that done, I got into the back of the Humvee, and the driver drove back down into the tunnel. The ride was silent, and I pulled a piece of paper out of my pocket.

**Level 28, D section** the note read.

The Humvee stopped suddenly, while I was mulling it over.

"You must be pretty special." The man driving said. "The brass doesn't typically allow people to just walk on in here."

"I called ahead."

"So, where are we escorting you to, then?" the woman in the passenger seat asked as we got out of the car.

"Level twenty-eight, section D sound familiar?" I asked as we walked through two metal doors. "Supposedly, there's a door there, with a lock that matches a key I have. I'm here to test it."

"Right." she said, twisting to glare at me over her shoulder. "Look, if you don't want to tell me why you're here, that's your business. But whatever you do, DON'T insult my intelligence!"

"I was telling you the truth, ma'am, just not all of it." I replied, feeling slightly defensive. Being in a slow elevator going down didn't help my mood.

"Then what is the rest of it?" she asked. "Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure I can handle it. Just because my reproductive organs are inside my body instead of outside doesn't mean I'm not just as smart."

"Calm down already!" I said, having had enough. "The key is supposed to activate a portal into a different reality via subspace. The closet I'm looking for was chosen by random, but the level was not. If everything goes according to plan, I'll end up in a different reality. If everything fails, I'll look pretty stupid."

"You already do." the man quipped.

"Yeah," I rejoined, "But at least I won't be here looking stupid."

The doors opened, and I bounded out of the elevator, eager to be out of that enclosed space. Finding section D wasn't terribly hard, and as we were rounding a corner, I saw a door to a supply closet. It was the first one I had seen in this section, and I figured I might as well try it.

"I'm making an attempt on this door." I said, pointing at the door.

"Why that one? It's just a supply closet."

"I know" I replied, walking up to it and twisting the brass handle. "But it might be the one with the portal in it. You never know."

"What did we do to deserve the fate of escorting some weird crackpot around NORAD?" the lady asked, rolling her eyes at the man.

"Beats me." the man grunted.

Ignoring them, I fished out the key. After fumbling with it a few times trying to get it to go in, I managed to insert the key, and unlock the door. Supposedly, the action of unlocking the door with this key was the trigger for the portal. I swung the door open, and saw a thin skin of energy stretched across the doorway. After pulling the key back out of the lock, I touched the sparkling web of energy, and the whole world seemed to blur as my body absorbed a massive electrical shock. The surroundings seemed to change slightly, and just before I passed out, an alarm sounded.

I slept soundly for eight hours.

When I cracked my eyes open again, I found several things to be different. The first was the presence of a gentle beeping sound. I also noticed that there was something gently clipped to one of my fingers. I could smell a strong scent of antiseptic, and opened my eyes a little more.

"Well, there you are!" a woman's voice said. I blinked a couple times, then tried moving. A woman in a white lab coat moved into my field of vision. She had a kind face, and it struck me that she would probably be the somewhat motherly type. She had a stethoscope around her neck, and even as I was blearily looking around, she put it in her ears, and began to press it to various points on my body. The metal part of it sent chills across my skin.

I pulled the white plastic clip thingie off my finger, and rubbed my eyes before swiping my hand across my face. "Feeling better?" she asked.

"Much, thanks." I replied.

"I'm Dr. Frasier. Do you have a name?" she asked, ceasing her prodding with the stethoscope.

"Yeah. I go by Ajax. So…what happened?" I asked, glancing around the room which was basically bare.

"We were hoping you could tell us. Do you feel up to walking around and talking?" her face seemed slightly concerned, but I figured it was just due to my experiment working perfectly.

"I feel hungry, but other than that, no, I'm fine." I said.

"Good. We'll get you something to eat, but while we're doing that, you need to go to the conference room. General Landry wants to know some things." Dr. Frasier said, pulling the heart monitor cuff off my arm.

"Okay. Say, was there a backpack with me when you found me?"

Her eyes lit up in recognition. "Yes, yes there was. It had a couple weapons sewn into it?"

"That's the one. Can I have it back?"

"Sorry, not yet." a man's voice entered the room. A few moments later, the owner of the voice walked into my field of vision.

I stood up, trying to remain steady, and held out my hand towards the man. "I'm Ajax. Pleased to meet you."

"Cameron Mitchell." he said, accepting the proffered hand. "I'm supposed to escort you to the briefing room."

"Lead the way." I said.

The man nodded curtly and walked out of the room. I followed.

As I exited the room, a rather large man with a golden colored object on his forehead fell in behind us.

After walking through several corridors, we came upon a bulkhead thick door. Cameron removed a card from his pocket, and swiped the card through a reader mounted near the door. The reader light turned green and buzzed, before there was a click, and the door hissed before rumbling open. We walked down another corridor, where we came to a plain door next to a bulkhead door.

As I continued to follow Mitchell, I felt the weight of the heavy man's gaze behind me, almost like he was daring me to try anything.

We went up a spiral staircase, and came to a long conference table, where there were three other people sitting. There were guards posted at strategic locations in the room, and as I came up the stairs, Cameron stopped short, and saluted to one of the people seated at the table.

"General Landry, sir!" he said. "I brought our guest as ordered, sir."

"At ease, son." the general said.

"Thank you, sir." Cameron's stiff posture dropped to a more relaxed form, though still to a degree of attention. I moved out from behind Cameron to get a better look at the people seated at the table.

"Everyone, sit down." Landry said. "I want to get on with this as quickly as possible."

As Cameron, the dangerous guy and I pulled out seats and sat, I decided I liked this person. He seemed like someone to get straight to the point, and not waste time with ceremony. As I was thinking this over, he looked me straight in the eye. "I want to know how you got on this base. I want to know who you are working for, and I want to know why you are here." by the end of his mini-speech, he was leaned forward rather aggressively.

Something happened in my brain, rewiring several sections, and I forgot about who created me and exactly how I got here. On the flip side, I now had memories corresponding to a laboratory and being treated as an experiment. I also had intimate knowledge of the Omega Project.

With this knowledge missing, I decided to wing it as best I could. "My name is Ajax. To my knowledge, I answer to nobody, and my mission is the betterment of the galaxy."

"That doesn't explain what you are doing here." Landry stated, leaning back into his chair.

"I heard rumors about a team of commandos who go around in this galaxy helping people, and handing evil factions such as the Goa'uld their asses on silver platters. There were a few chuckles echoing around the room but they were silenced by the General's glare almost immediately.

"Yeah," broke in the man with glasses, "we couldn't find any gold, so we had to use silver." he leaned back in his seat, a satisfied look on his face.

"Dr. Jackson, I would very much appreciate it if you would not interrupt. There will be time for comments later." Landry said, looking at the man in question.

Thus far, I had learned the name of a Dr. Frasier, and three relatively important-looking people, without even asking their names.

"You still haven't answered the question." Landry said, starting to look impatient as his eyes fell on me once more.

"I wanted to join up with the good guys, and be a driving force in the galaxy. That's why I'm here." The General was silent for a moment, studying Ajax with experienced eyes. Then, he nodded ever so slightly as if he like what he saw.

"Very well. We have some other questions for you. Dr. Carter?" Landry sat back, seemingly finished, but I knew he would jump back into the conversation at any time he chose.

"What are you?" The woman asked. I presumed that she was the Doctor Carter.

"I am a human-avian hybrid, with all the trimmings."

From there, it degenerated into a question-and-answer free-for-all. Finally, after everyone had run their course, the heavily muscled one with the golden thing on his forehead spoke up.

"How familiar are you with the art of defending yourself?" he asked.

My head whipped up. "A demonstration can be arranged if you want." I offered. "You could see first hand what I can do."

"I accept." he responded, inclining his head.

"Before we do that though, I haven't eaten anything since before I passed out on your floor, and I require just about double the daily caloric intake, or at least, I'm supposed to get double the daily average for a male human my age. Could I have something to eat?"

Carter nodded. "Sure, we can get you something to eat." she said. "The commissary is right this way."

Five minutes later, I had taken a pound of meat, and pound of cheese, a bottle of ketchup, and two foot-long bread rolls. I attempted to whip out my pocketknife, but it wasn't there.

"Anybody got a knife?" I asked.

One of them handed me a knife, and then they decided to get food for themselves. When they came back, Dr. Jackson, Cameron and the heavyweight sat down at a table across from me, but Dr. Carter sat down across from me. Her tray had some light snacks on it, crackers and vegetable sticks.

"So what's it like?" she asked, considering a carrot stick.

"What's what like?" I asked, feigning confusion.

"Flying." She said, opting to eat the carrot stick and not meet his eyes. "What's it like to fly with nothing aiding you but your wings? What's it like to fly?"

"You are very eager to know, aren't you?" I asked, bemused.

"Yes. It's the scientist in me, always looking for something new to learn." Carter admitted, acting slightly embarrassed.

"Well, take the best roller coaster you've ever ridden, add the feeling of being in complete control, and pour in two teaspoons of magic. Stir well, and bake at 350 for two hours, or until the toothpick comes out clean. In all seriousness though, it's the best thing you can ever imagine, times ten."

She seemed satisfied with that, and we finished our respective meals without conversation.

We walked through some more grey concrete tunnels, and came to a gym. I strode in confidently, then ducked left as the heavy-set guy attacked with no warning.

He came at me again, this time like a freight train. I sidestepped him, then twisted, tapping him from behind with my elbow bent. He grunted, but didn't go down like I expected him to. I was surprised, but tried not to show it.

From there, it took me five whole minutes to regain control of the situation, as he had sensed my surprise almost at once.

Along one of the walls was a rack with sparring rods on it. Figuring that having one might be instrumental in my victory, I decided that I would get to the rack, one way or another. I managed to get away from the big guy just long enough to remove my jacket, which I dropped near the door. Finally, I maneuvered my way around to the point where my back was to the rack of sparring rods. I opened my wings wide, and the person I was fighting with stopped for a second, his eyes wide.

The spectators standing near the door had a look of complete shock and awe on their faces. The moment didn't last, as my opponent shook off the stunned moment, and continued his attack. I lightly jumped up, gave a powerful flap, pushing me back towards the rack with incredible speed. He blinked, as if that would bring me back to my former position, and rushed me. I plucked a rod off the rack, and rolled away from the freight train that was coming my way. I looked at the clock. Nearly half an hour had gone by already, and the spectators had gone from standing to sitting. Had it really been that long?

No time to think about time, he's got a rod, and is willing to keep right on going! Block, duck, evade, attack, feint, block, twist, and repeat in mixed order. This went on for a grand total of three hours before the other guy rapped my fingers with his rod so hard that tears sprang to my eyes, and I dropped the rod, cursing quietly.

Instead of pressing the attack, as I might have and expected, he stepped back and dropped his rod. It clattered on the floor as he asked "Have I harmed you?"

"No, no harm done." I replied, looking up at him in confusion. "A bit of hurt, a little bit of pain, but no harm."

"Please explain." he rumbled, rubbing his chin as he gazed at me.

I shook my wrist and said, "Harm is lasting damage, damage that can't be fixed, at least, not all the way fixed." I said.

"Kinda like my 302 crash. Left me with a metal rod in my leg." Mitchell said, standing up.

"Does it not pain you, Colonel Mitchell?" the giant asked.

"Aw, yeah, it hurts from time to time, but it's not too bad. I did all that therapy and stuff, so aside from setting off metal detectors in every airport, I'm good." Cameron replied.

"Teal'c," Dr. Carter asked "How was he able to hold you off for so long?"

I remained silent, hoping that Teal'c was the name of the person I had been sparring with. It was.

"He is most proficient in the art of self defense, Colonel Carter." Teal'c replied.

"It was an honor to spar with you." I said, bowing my head. "Had this been a real fight, you or I would have been dead within thirty minutes."

Teal'c merely inclined his head down and slightly to the right.

"So, Mitchell." I said, putting the rod back on the rack. "Can I have my pack 'o' shit back yet or what?"

"Unless we're in a briefing with Landry, or in some other highly political situation, just call me Cam. Everyone else does. As far as your backpack goes, I think I can arrange something."

Just as he finished speaking, the phone rang. To his credit, he didn't jump or even flinch slightly before realizing what it was. He just reached up beside his head, and pulled the receiver off the hook as if he was expecting it to happen right at that moment.

"Mitchell speaking." he said.

Whoever was on the other end of the line asked a question.

"Yes sir."

"Yes sir, do you want me to put him on?"

"Yes sir, I'm on my way." Mitchell hung up the phone. "Landry wants us in the briefing room. Apparently, Janet finished the blood work from our guest, and the General wants us to see it, also, there's the question of his pack." Mitchell glanced at me and I nodded.

We walked back to the briefing room, where we found Landry seated at one end of the table, and Dr. Frasier standing nearby, with folders in hand. On the table was my backpack, unzipped for all to see what was inside.

"Please sit down." Landry said, after the proper military formalities had been exchanged.

I sat at the end of the table opposite Landry, having sensed that we would see a bit more confrontation than last time. I needed the end spot so I could pull out the theatrics if I deemed it necessary.

"Thank you for coming." Landry said. "We have much to discuss."

He reached down, and picked up my backpack, throwing it on the table. I winced; there was a tablet computer in there.

"Before I even consider giving this back to you, you'll need to prove yourself." he said, looking at the pack. "But I might consider giving some of the objects inside back to you."

"Okay." I said, playing it cautiously. "I'm going to hope that the objects in question are my iPod, tablet computer, Leatherman, and my nice knife."

Carter smiled slightly at that, but didn't comment.

"We can give you the iPod, seeing as how it's a first generation model, but we're going to have to hold off on the tablet for now. As far as the Leatherman and knife go…I might consider that." Landry replied. He stood up, and walked over to the large picture window, staring at what looked like a metal or stone hoop for a while.

I stood up, and stood beside him, hands clasped behind my back. "So how do I earn your trust?" I asked at last.

"First, we need to do a psych-test, then you need to go through training, and then you get to be given all the responsibilities of an SG officer, without the privileges for a year." Landry glanced at me as I stared at the hoop. "Pass the tests, and you get full access to the base, except for restricted areas."

"Okay." I said. "I'll play nice, and if you and yours play nice, I'll give you the info on the tablet PC."

"We could take that data right now if we thought it was important." Landry replied.

"Maybe, but I doubt it. There are sixteen passwords that you have to put in just to boot up the computer. It also requires a thumbprint, and voice analysis, and another twenty passwords to log in. From there, each document is protected with it's own unique password. I highly doubt you'll get anything from that machine without some seriously hard work. I coded the whole thing myself."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier that you were an arrogant super-genius?" Landry demanded, his eyes blazing.

"Because I'm a paranoid super-genius, not an arrogant one. Out of everyone in this room right now, the people most likely to crack the code would be Drs. Jackson and Carter."

"Really?" Landry said. "And why do you say that?"

"I'm not even that good with computers." Daniel added.

"No, you're right about that." I said, addressing Jackson. "But you are good with codes, and secret cyphers, and puzzles so old you have to dig the dust off of them. Things in foreign or no longer spoken languages, that sort of thing."

"Right…how did you know all of that?" Jackson asked.

"I was about to ask the same thing." Cam said.

"I guessed. The way I lived…" I lifted a shoulder and let it droop back down again. "One gets to be a pretty good judge of character after a while. Either that, or dead." I then turned to face Landry again. "What sort of training did you have in mind? I went sparring against Teal'c for three hours."

If Landry was surprised, he didn't show it. "What else can you do?"

"I can fly for extended periods of time, carrying the load of that backpack plus twenty pounds of reserve food, often flying for distances of a couple hundred miles straight on longer trips. I can eat up fifty miles in a day on foot, and I'm street-smart, and woods-smart. If necessary, I can live off the land with little to no trace of my existence, for several years. I've done it once, a three-year-long leave-no-trace campout is how I thought of it." I finished my explanation of myself, and returned to staring at the hoop-thing.

A silence settled over the conference room, and I found that while it wasn't the easy silence of old friends who had nothing more to discuss, nor was it an uncomfortable silence. I put it down to being the silence of people lost in their own thoughts, and continued to look at the hoop.

It was Teal'c who finally broke the silence. "What are you contemplating, General Landry?"

The man in question roused himself, as if he had been sleeping. "I'm just wondering what to do with an over-qualified human-avian hybrid." he said, leaning back in his chair as he stared at me.

Just as he finished saying that, a siren started up, and the hoop began spinning. Within a few seconds, six lights on the ring had lit up, and then the seventh one split slightly, turned on, then closed the gap again. A split second later, a wave of water was ejected from the ring, then retracted.

I looked on in wonder, my mouth flopped open slightly, then eight people stepped out of the water, and the water evaporated with a whooshing snap. The sirens stopped, and the people that had walked out of the water continued down the ramp. I heard a muted buzz and click, then one of the massive blast doors rolled open.

I turned back towards the table where everyone was seated. After a moment, I found words to put to what I was feeling. "That was, quite possibly, the coolest thing I have _ever_ seen in my _life_."

Most of the people at the table laughed, and Carter said, "Strange. For me, seeing you open your wings and use them to back up was the coolest thing I've seen thus far in my life."

"Just wait until we can arrange a proper demonstration of my flight abilities." I said smugly. "What I did during that fight was nothing, just assisted maneuvers. I bet I could outdo your best aircraft."

"I doubt that very much." Cam said, thinking of the F-302 that he flew.

"Really." I said, knowing he was thinking of his 302.

"I can do nearly three times the speed of sound, undetected, and insert covertly with two weeks worth of rations and batteries for a camera." I paused to grin at Mitchell. "Even your prized 302, which is technically a space superiority fighter, can't drop down in some tiny town in Afghanistan, and do recon work for two weeks, can it?"

Mitchell looked at me, shocked. "Ah, no. But it can do circle around the rings of Jupiter."

"Psssh, whatever. I could too, if there was an atmosphere there." I said, waving my hand as if it was boring.

Everyone at the table looked at me. "What?" I said, spreading my arms defensively. "I'm not lying. If there was an atmosphere around Jupiter's rings, I could do circles around them."

"Colonel Carter, could you escort our guest to the temporary holding quarters?" Landry said. "I'll talk with him later."

As Carter stood up, I reached into the backpack that contained all my stuff. Teal'c drew an odd, s-shaped weapon, and as I looked at it curiously, it folded open, and Teal'c took aim at me with it.

I withdrew my hand from the backpack, bringing the iPod out in my hand. Teal'c eyes narrowed, and I showed him the stylized print on the back: _Ajax's Imaginarium._

Teal'c raised an eyebrow as I slid it into my pocket, draped my earbuds around my neck, and gently wound the wire around my neck.

As Carter showed me the way to the temporary holding quarters, I plugged in the jack, and began listening to music as I walked. We turned a corner, and came upon a dead-end hallway with a door at the end. It was heavily reinforced, but not to the same level as the blast doors. There were two guards on either side of the door, and as Colonel Carter nodded to one of the guards, one of them turned about, and slid a card through a reader set next to the door, then his partner opened the door for Colonel Carter.

She stepped in, and I followed after a cursory glance at the guards. Once inside, I spun around slowly, taking in all visible aspects of the room as I did so. There was a lamp hanging from the ceiling and a bunk bed. In addition, there was a pair of chairs, against the wall, and a desk in the corner.

I nodded in satisfaction, it was simple, but had everything I needed.

"I'll leave you to it, then." Carter said. She backed out, and I heard the door close and lock behind her. The first thing I did was grab a chair and look in the top bunk for any bugs -electronic listening devices. Finding none, I put the chair back, and examined the second one. I didn't find any bugs there, either. After careful examination of the frame, I concluded that if there were any bugs, I wouldn't be able to find them. I checked the desk, then the chairs. After that was finished, I brought a chair close to being directly under the security camera, and stood on the chair to examine the camera.

I found that it was working, had zoom capacity, and was able to swivel and pitch as needed. I moved the chair over to the other one, and found it to be identical in every way, except for the fact that it was mounted in the opposite corner of the room. I grinned at it, imagining the poor sucker who was set to watch over me. What a cruel punishment.

After putting the chair back, I pulled my iPod back out of my pocket, and carefully laid down on the lower bed. Taking my jacket off, I extended my wings slightly, and reached back to get at them, combing through the feathers with a practiced ease. I figured that whatever they were going to watch, it might as well be as mundanely interesting as I could make it.

After nearly half an hour, there was a click as the lock was released, and Landry stepped inside along with two guards and Teal'c. I paid them no mind, rooting around in my secondaries at the base of my right wing.

"I've come to talk about what to do with you." Landry said.

"Okay." I said, not really caring.

"You got here somehow, almost not even tripping the alarms, you have extraordinary abilities, and quite frankly, we could use someone like you around here." Landry said.

"Okay, you've laid your cards out on the table." I said. "Some of them anyway. What is it you want from me?"

"I want to know how you got here, all the way to level twenty-eight, Section D before being detected." Landry said threateningly. "You put the whole base into lockdown with that energy surge of yours."

"Energy surge?"

"You honestly don't know what I'm talking about? I find that hard to believe." Landry said.

"Maybe you could let me and that Colonel Carter analyze the surge, and see what it seems the closest to, extrapolate a little, and see where we end up." I said, deliberately speaking in a light tone of voice so he wouldn't know whether I was serious or not.

"Or, you could just rot here until you tell me how you got here!" Landry exclaimed, having grown sick of verbal jesting.

"Fine." I said, dead serious. "Give me my tablet, and a copy of all the data relevant to the surge, and I'll give you the best explanation I can give you. I honestly don't know how the hell I got here, I just know that I saw the area of the base that you picked me up in, for just a second or two, before I passed out cold on your lovely concrete flooring!" I was furious at this point, and hiding my confusion well.

Landry looked at me, shocked. Teal'c and the other guards had their strange, s-shaped weapons unfolded and pointed at me, and I slowly sat back down again.

"You truly don't know?" he asked quietly. It should have been too quiet for any but him to hear.

"Yeah, I truly don't know. Now, here are my terms, take it or counter-bargain." I took a deep breath, and started: "I get all my shit back. That's everything that you found on my person, or in my backpack. I get a place to lay my head at night. If that means this room, so be it. I get three square meals a day. I get one of those chains like I see your soldiers wearing, with my name on one, however you work all that stuff. I also get free run off the base, in essence, I can go anywhere on the base. Now, that's all the stuff I stand to gain should you decide to accept. On your end, I swear fealty on my honor to this organization until such point as I find it to be corrupt, or until I am freed from my oath. Know this, General Landry. I. Do. Not. Take, _my_ honor lightly. Are we completely clear on that matter?" I sat back in my chair, and popped my knuckles.

The general in question sat back in his chair and regarded me for several long moments.

"Fine." he said at last. "But I would add one thing to the list."

I kept my face unreadable as he spoke. When the one thing wasn't forthcoming, I asked. "What is this 'one thing' you want?"

"Teal'c goes wherever you go on the base during the probationary period." Landry said. His face seemed to suggest that he was expecting me to protest, but I didn't object in the slightest.

I considered for a moment, my head cocked slightly to show that I was thinking about it, then I held out my hand. "Deal."

_Author's Note:_

_This was more of an intro than anything else. Ajax leaves on his quest for the Infinatus key puzzle in the next chapter. He will jump across many worlds, many realities to do so, so if you have any ideas as to where he should go, by all means, tell me!_


	2. Fullmetal Universe

_And we're back at it. I'm sorry to do it, but I'll be doing a time jump of about a year. Don't say you weren't warned._

After the agreement that Ajax and Landry had come to, Ajax swiftly began to prove himself as a capable team member, though he often expressed boredom whenever Jackson went beyond five minutes about ancient history, he could only listen it so much. When Vala returned to the team, Ajax did not get along with her well at all. Finally, the entire team had had enough. They needed to send Ajax on a mission all his own, if nothing more than to get him out of their hands for a bit.

A ship was procured, and Ajax went to work on modifying it to suit the mission and his own tastes. The best possible voice recognition software was installed, and wired into all the key systems. Should anything go wrong, Ajax would be able to find out what was happening, and how to fix it within moments of a problem.

"I don't know exactly how many fragments Morgan Le Fay sent out, just that there are several of them." Jackson said, coming up behind him then going to sit down. Ajax glanced at him then back at the man speaking.

"Your mission is to find every fragment of the puzzle key, then assist SG-1 in finding the Infinatus. Do you understand?" General Landry continued. "I can't even pretend to know what's out there, we don't even have our home galaxy fully explored, let alone different realities. Good luck, and Godspeed."

"Thank you, sir." Ajax said, standing up. "I guess I'll be going now." he pushed a button, and the band around his left arm lit up with a blinking red light. A moment later, the Asgard beaming technology picked him up in a white flash of light. The next thing he saw was the bridge of his craft.

His voice controlled all functions aboard the ship, but the consoles still worked, and Ajax decided to just sit down at the conn. There were two stations, one for controlling the ship, the other for weapons. Ajax had had the two stations blended, and while there was still a weapons console, the one on the left was the master control station. It had been refitted from being a pair of screens and a dizzying array of buttons to one screen and a keyboard, as well as what looked like the dashboard of a car much to Ajax's liking.

There was even a twin-pronged yoke stinking out from it, similar to one found in aircraft, and three pedals on the floor. Beside the seat positioned in front of the console was a shiny chrome gear selector, similar to the ones found in big rigs.

Ajax sat down, and pondered his new mission for a moment, eyes narrowed.. Then, his mind made up, he pushed the pedal on the left to the floor, selecting first gear before stabbing the gas with his right foot. The ship responded by jerking forward, and Ajax shifted again, this time going to third before accelerating at a steadier pace. He twisted the yoke hard to the left, and broke planetary orbit. Looking at the keyboard and screen to his left, Ajax keyed in a sharp succession of strokes, causing the special trans-reality drive to begin charging. After keying in the destination, Ajax brought the ship to a full stop. One minute later, there was a tremendous flash, and the ship vanished.

When the change from one reality to another occurred, Ajax noticed that there were some things different there, such as the fact that there was no other ships or even an orbital shipyard to greet him. Ajax engaged the cloak, and moved to high orbit.

Ajax entered the commands for a full-scan of the planet, looking for the faint resonant pulse signature that would give away the location of the piece he had come to retrieve. The scan was only good enough to narrow it down to the East and South.

Inputting the coordinates that seemed nearest to the pulse, Ajax found himself in a busy city and after landing he began his search.

"Excuse me." he said to a passerby. "I'm new here, and I'm wondering where I am?"

The person stopped, and Ajax examined him more closely. He was short and squat, but determined and it seemed to Ajax that if he set this person off, there would be hell to pay.

"You don't know you're in Central?" he asked, incredulous, arms crossed over his chest and eyes glaring up at Ajax who tried to keep his face casual.

"Nope. Dude, I have absolutely no clue where I am. I just know this, I am in a place that is called Central, and the only way I know that is because you just told me."

"You're gonna need someone who knows the city like the back of his hand, and can defend himself." the kid said with a sigh, dropping his arms at his side. "I'm Ed Elric, but everybody just calls me the Fullmetal Alchemist. The suit of armor is my brother, Alphonse." A note of sadness had entered his voice when he mentioned his brother.

"I'm pleased to meet you." Ajax said, sticking his hand out. "I'm Ajax." Ed accepted the handshake, and together the trio continued down the street.

"Just so you know," Ajax said. "I can take care of myself in a fight."

"I'm sure." Ed returned sarcastically, not even bothering to look at Ajax.

With a frown Ajax let the matter drop, not caring to get into an argument with someone he had just met, and knew the city better than he did. Wanting to keep talking, Ajax switched subjects. "You said your codename was Fullmetal Alchemist. To me, that implies alchemy, and I'm curious to know more about it."

"Of all the questions to ask." Ed muttered to himself. "Alchemy is the art of taking things apart at the molecular level, and then putting it together in a different pattern. The biggest law of alchemy is Equivalent Exchange, and it governs all alchemists. To gain something, you must give something in return. By this law, I get to ask you a question. Where do you come from that you never would have heard of Amstreis?"

Ajax chuckled silently for a moment. "Earth, a different reality. My turn. Would you mind telling me what you know, if anything, about something called the Infinatus?"

"A fairy-tale that tells of a repository of knowledge, wealth, and weaponry. We have a fragment from something that our archaeologists say is related to it, but nothing's ever come of it. How did you get here?"

"I have a ship. Space ship, technically, and it's flying in high orbit right now, out where there's no air. On that ship, there is a special engine that enables me to take advantage of certain gaps in the fabric of reality. By emitting a field of the right frequency around my ship, I can slid right between the fibers of the cloth separating individual realities. Would you teach me how to use alchemy?"

"Hey now, equivalent exchange, remember?" Ed said. He stopped in front of a house. "Do you have a place to stay?"

"Sort of…." Ajax replied

"Then it's settled. You'll stay with me and Alphonse." Once they got inside, Ed wheeled to face Ajax full-on. "Tell me everything."

"It will, of necessity, be a longish tale, but I will strive to do my best to help you understand." Ajax found a seat and sat down.

"I have a starship in high orbit. That's how I got here, but there are certain things that you might have a very hard time believing. The first is that I'm a human-avian hybrid, and I have wings because of it. All that you know to be fiction, is fiction, here however, there is a reality -somewhere- in which it's reality, not fiction. In my 'home reality' so to speak, you, Burnt Popcorn, and everything that you know…is fiction."

Ed looked somewhat disturbed by that, and also deeply contemplative. Ajax continued.

"The piece you mentioned…my mission is to recover all of them, and put them together for SG-1. Once that's done, then SG-1 will hunt up the Infinatus, and hopefully, there will be a weapon we can use against the Ori in there somewhere."

"Who is this Burnt Popcorn you speak of?" Ed asked, having processed everything else Ajax had said.

"Oh…,due to the nature of fiction writers, some things go against what the readers or viewers want. They write their own works to solve the issue, or for their own entertainment. As a whole, people like this are called fan fiction writers, and one of them came up with Burnt Popcorn as a nickname for the Flame Alchemist."

Ed looked disbelievingly at Ajax for several seconds, then burst out laughing. "That's a good one." he said, recovering. "Burnt Popcorn…." he dissolved into laughter again.

A hollow laughing sound emanated from Alphonse, almost as if there was nobody inside the armor.

Ajax shivered, wondering exactly what could cause a suit to be hollow, yet show some appearance of life?

_The next day:_

Ajax had been sleeping on the couch when the ticking of the grandfather clock slowly brought him out of his sleep state. He rubbed his face rather harshly, trying to clear his head, when he saw the note on the table.

**Ajax, we went to the museum to retrieve that piece that we talked about last night. We won't be gone long, and you don't know this place like we do, so don't go anywhere. **_**Fullmetal Alchemist.**_

Ajax calmly folded the note, and placed it in his pocket before getting up and stretching through a handful of yoga positions. After that, he took off a secondary beacon, and placed it on one end of the sofa before walking to the other end of the room, and beaming back up to the Phoenix.

Within two minutes, he had returned with a stainless steel tray piled high with food. After setting the tray down on the coffee table, Ajax retrieved the secondary beacon that he had left on the couch, then began eating.

He was just finishing up his meal when the front door clicked as someone unlocked the door. Fullmetal and Alphonse walked in, Ed carrying the chuck of the Infinatus puzzle piece that they had found in the museum.

"Is this what you were talking about?" Ed asked, setting it down on the table. Ajax picked it up, and examined the chuck of carved obsidian.

"Between?" Ajax muttered, let looked upat Ed. "Well, this is definitely a piece of the puzzle. How'd you get your hands on it?"

"I told the curator that I was taking it home with me. After showing him the sign of the state alchemist, he didn't argue, just asked if he would ever get it back."

"What did you tell him?"

"I answered that I didn't know if he would get it back or not."

"Well, I think I can make a copy of it. This one is impregnated with a special power signature, but the fake will look exactly the same to the naked eye."

"You wanted me to teach you how to use alchemy, right?" Edward asked, sitting down across from Ajax, his face as serious as it could be.

Ajax nodded just as seriously. "Yeah…."

"Take me and Alphonse to your ship, and I'll teach you." he replied.

Ajax thought about it for a moment. "Okay, but Alphonse is going to need a beacon for the computer to lock onto."

After Ajax had fixed the beacon to the suit of armor, Ajax picked up his now-empty tray of food and the chunk of obsidian.

"Ajax to _Phoenix_. Request immediate extraction." The white light generated by the Asgard beaming device engulfed the trio, depositing them on the bridge of the _Phoenix_. "Well, gentlemen, here we are. The _Daedalus_-class, BC-304 _Phoenix_."

"I'd like to see what books you have in your library if I could, please." Ed announced, after taking a moment to gaze about at the interior of the ship.

"Sure, I've got some things I need to deal with myself." Ajax sat at one of the consoles, and manipulated the controls for several seconds. "Okay, everything's good…let's go."

They walked through the ship, going down two decks before Ajax stopped at a door. He pulled a small plastic card out of his pocket, and inserted it into a slot next to the door, then jerked it back out.

The light turned green, and Ajax bumped the door with his knee, causing it to glide open on well-oiled hinges. The room was circular, and had eight terminals along the wall. Ajax went to one, and repeated the card ritual he had performed at the door. The computer accepted his code, and he proceeded to lock out all system commands from the terminals in the room. All that was left for access by the time he was done was the massive database that the ship carried.

"Okay, I've locked out all systems except for the database, so you can read every file on the ship, you just can't blow it up with a handful of keystrokes. Have at it!"

Ed sat down at the terminal, and then looked up at Ajax. "How do you use this thing?"

Ajax blinked several times, then moved aside the chair Ed was sitting on, taking a position slightly to the left of the computer.

"What-," he asked, "do you want to know? These keys here, control everything you see on that screen. So, if you wanted to know about this vessel's engine tolerances, you would type in 'engine tolerances', and come up with several entries. So see, the field gets narrowed each type you push a letter key. Now the field shows five or six vessels, each slightly different.

_"The Prometheus_, the _Daedalus_, the _Phoenix_, the _Odyssey_, and the _Dorian_. Then you would select _'Phoenix', _because that's the vessel you wanted the engine specs from, and it would give the engine specs of this ship. Simple as that." Ajax cleared back to the main list, and clicked the search box. "Do be sure to click that when you're typing, otherwise it won't register. You can tell if it's ready because when it's white, you can type, and when it's grey, it won't accept your keystrokes. Okay?"

Ed nodded, ready to get into it already. Ajax left to perform maintenance.

_Engine Room:_

Ajax bumped a tile on the wall, causing a drawer to glide open. Three crystals were dark. Ajax pulled one, and looked through the bottom after holding it up to the light.

"J6 is suffering from a fracture in the center. I'll have to get a new one." Ajax walked down the corridor to a door with a red frame and the words "Authorized Personnel Only" proudly emblazoned over the doors. Ajax swiped his card, then entered with the letter numbers of each crystal. He also had the fragment of the puzzle with him. The door re-sealed upon closing, and Ajax had the computer re-create the three fractured crystals as well as create a duplicate of the fragment. He had begun a re-write of the crystals to make them less susceptible to the damage created by the jump when the door chimed. He quickly saved what he had already written, gathered up the items, and opened the door. Ed Elric was there.

"Your computer system has more information that I can handle." he said seriously. "I copied down some things, but I'll just have to remember what I can. Anyway, I made a deal, and I'm true to my word. Do you have a large, open room?"

"Uh, yeah, actually, I think I do have a large room suitable for your purposes." Ajax replied. "First though, I need to put these crystals in the engine tray."

As soon as the crystals were fully engaged, they lit up, and Ajax double tapped the tile he had bumped earlier. The tray slid closed with a muted hiss while Edward looked on in wonder.

"Tell me." Ajax said, pulling out the two fragments. "Which one is real?"

Ed looked at them both very closely, then looked up at Ajax. "I dunno."

"Great. Hopefully, neither will anyone else." Ajax said, placing one chunk in the bag. He tapped a wall section, and placed the real chunk in the drawer that slid out, before closing it again.

"The fake is in the bag."

Together, the two walked to the elevator, where Ajax pushed on of the many unmarked buttons.

The elevator descended silently, before finally stopping. The lights dimmed, and the doors opened. Ajax took the first corridor on the right, and followed it all the way to the door.

Written on the doors were the words _Hangar Bay 2 Airlock_. Ajax thumbed the button, and they quietly whined open to reveal a small room with a slanted wall and a illuminated green light. The door whirred closed behind them. Ajax put his hand to the wheel set in the slanted wall, and spun it hard to the left. It spun easily, finally stopping as it forcibly hit the stop. With a grunt and a push, Ajax opened the door.

The next eight hours went by in something of a blur for Ajax, and in the end, he knew that the alchemist before him had one metal leg, one metal arm, was an excellent fighter, and was very touchy about the subject of his height.

They ate in relative silence that evening, then Ajax showed the dynamic duo a guest room that he had prepared for just such an occasion.

The next morning, Ajax arose at 0500 according to the ship's clock, and went back to the restricted room to build a new item. Within fifteen seconds, the computer had perfectly re-created a Rock Band II bass guitar.

Ajax took the new implement to the dining hall, and grabbed his precision tool kit before sitting down.

It didn't take him very long at all to disassemble the device, and clean out the guts. That done, he carefully drew four arrays on one portion of the disassembled toy, before covering them in such a way that they could be used over and over again. He then rebuilt the guitar so that the knobs would control which array was used.

That done, he assembled the whole thing, and put the remaining guts into his box of junk stuff. Not much was left, he had transmuted almost everything in the new device, leaving just one or two of the small circuit boards.

Ajax left it on the table, and went to make a new set of clothes for himself. After that was done, he went to the guest quarters, and knocked gently on the door.

"Fullmetal? You up yet?" Ajax asked, knuckling the door once more as he leaned his shoulder against the door jam.

A muted stream of profanities emerged from the occupant of the room, and the door clicked before swinging open silently. Ed stood in the doorway, glaring.

"You look like hell." Ajax said quietly. "There's plenty of food in the mess if you want something to eat before we go back down."

Ed muttered some more profanities, then put his trench coat back on, and went to the mess.

After eating, the trio beamed down to Ed's living quarter's where they found Mustang and several others searching around for him.

The Flame Alchemist reflexively snapped his fingers, creating a rather epic fireball that dissipated on a shield generated by one of the four arrays on Ajax's new alchemy project.

He look surprised to see Ed and Alphonse, an even more surprised that someone had managed to create a shield to protect against a fireball.

"Let me do the talking where it comes to things involving me." Ajax muttered to Ed.

"Who are you?" Mustang demanded, slightly scared.

"I am the Judo-Electric Alchemist." Ajax said, thinking quickly.

"Right." Mustang said, not believing what he was hearing. "I've never heard of you before."

"I'm new around here." came Ajax's easy reply. "I just came to borrow this for an experiment, and now I need to return it." Ajax said, holding up the obsidian chunk.

"Oh, well, I'll let you do that then." Roy said. "Fullmetal, you get to escort him to wherever he got that rock from."

"Yes sir." Ed responded sullenly. Mustang let it pass.

"By they way sir," Ajax said at the door. "It's great to see the Burnt Popcorn Alchemist in person." Everyone in the room could tell he was working hard to maintain a straight face, and Ed almost burst out laughing. He closed the door behind him before Roy could snap his fingers.

"I don't _ever_ want to hear that name again. Am I perfectly understood?" he ground out to the people in the room.

A chorus of "Yes, Sir!" greeted his ears, and Roy chose to put the matter out of his head for the time being.

Meanwhile, Ed, Alphonse, and Ajax were on the other side of town, walking to the museum. They were walking up an alley when someone said "Are you Ed Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

"Yeah." came Ed's defiant reply. "Who's asking?"

Scar attacked, but missed. "You are a State Alchemist, and you must die."

"Hey!" Ajax spoke up. "Who gives you the right to decide?"

"And who are you?" the mysterious person asked, whirling on Ajax with fiery eyes.

"I am the Judo-Electric Alchemist." Ajax responded.

"This day is righteous indeed, delivering not one, but two alchemists to send to God." Scar said.

"Yo, if we gonna fight, let's do it in the street, yeah? It's a cramped space in here." Ajax said, jumping clear of a lunge. Ed and Alphonse were the first to get to the street, and a twist of the knob on Ajax's alchemist guitar delivered a considerable electric shock to…a brick wall. Scar had evaded yet another attack.

"It's been a while since I've had a worthy opponent." Ajax said, changing arrays again. "It's been a equal space of time since I've fought last." Ajax reached up, and dropped his heavy cape to the ground. "How much you wanna bet I'm still in practice though?"

Scar attacked again, but missed, destroying a portion of Ajax's guitar in the process. "Taking off a fretboard is of no consequence to me." Ajax said, repairing the damage. He spread his wings, and beat down hard, quickly gaining altitude.

"What in God's name are you?" Scar asked in amazement, looking up at Ajax in awe and from the corner's of his eyes he saw Ed doing the same.

"What am I?" Ajax repeated. "I'm the mistake that's going to whip your sorry ass." he twisted in the sky, diving towards Scar, his weapon sparking with electricity. Scar reached up to block the impending blow, and caught several hundred volts of direct current.

The shock threw Scar across the street, unconscious. Ed moved to kill him, but Ajax swept down and spread his wings wide to block him. "You'd just prove his point, trying to do that."

"So? _He_ attacked _us_; what do you want us to do about him?"

"We leave a note." Ajax said. "Got some paper?"

Ed looked at him incredulously but pulled out a piece of paper and wordlessly handed it to Ajax. "I know what you said about alchemy and equivalent exchange and all, but that's not the only rule to live by." Ajax said. "There are a multitude of rules, and this situation calls for the mercy rule."

Ajax began writing. _Scar. That's what all the alchemists in Central call you, so I'm going to use that name in reference to you, seeing as how I don't have your real name. You caught several hundred volts of electricity trying to block a blow that didn't exist, and were knocked unconscious by the charge. My morals refuse to allow me to destroy you while you were unconscious, and seeing as how I had no quarrel with you, I chose to leave this note and continue on my mission. You owe me one, so I'm going to call in what I'm owed through this note. Give Fullmetal the chance to prove himself._

_All he wants is to get his brother's body back. His brother is trapped in a suit of armor…no flesh to destroy, no need to sleep, no sense of smell…it must be torture for him. Allow him to finish his mission. I learned his history. He attempted a human transmutation, wanting to get him mother back after an illness had claimed her. He nearly lost his brother, and paid the price on his own body, as I'm sure you can attest to, having fought against him._

_He was forced into becoming a State Alchemist because he wanted….needed the research that being a State Alchemist could give him. All he wants now is to get the Philosopher's Stone, restore his brother's body, and then leave the ranks of the State Alchemists. Is that too much to ask?_

Having finished with the note, Ajax folded the paper and carefully placed it in Scar's jacket pocket, then arranged Scar such that his hand was on the paper.

"Let's go." Ajax said, standing up. "My conscience is clear, and hopefully, Scar won't try to kill you next time he sees you."

"What did you write?" Ed asked, eyes glowing with curiosity.

"I told him that all you wanted was to get your brother's body back…that _is_ why you became a State Alchemist, is it not?"

"Yeah…I need their research, and I'm leaving as soon as I can. Colonel Sarcasm is more than I can stand."

"Good, cause I told him as much."

They walked in silence for another twenty minutes, finally arriving at the museum in question.

"I dislike museums." Ajax growled under his breath. He glared at the door for several moments before Ed finally spoke up.

"Are you going in or not?"

"Fine, fine. I'm going." Ajax opened the door, and walked in.

"Hello? Can I help you?" an elderly man asked, pushing up his glasses.

"You recognize this?" Ajax thrust the chunk of obsidian towards the man, who took the proffered item.

"Ah, yes…a rather short person came in yesterday, and told me he needed it for an experiment that he was doing. Lousy State Alchemists, always telling, never asking." This last was muttered.

"Yeah, well, I was the one doing the experiment, and I wanted to thank you in person for your help." Ajax said. "I also needed to return the item."

"So did it work?"

"What?"

The experiment that you did with it. Did it work?"

"Yup. Good bye." Ajax walked quickly back out of the museum, the bell jingling on the front door. What greeted his eyes as he stepped out was most interesting. Scar was standing outside, talking with Edward.

The door clicked behind Ajax, and Scar looked up. "You stayed your hand." he said, eyes narrowed but posture non threatening. "Why?"

"Because it would have been wrong to kill an opponent who could not adequately defend himself. You were out like a light from my charge."

"No other alchemist would have done the same."

"I know. I had to stop Ed from destroying you. Like the note said, you're in my debt, and you pay it off by not killing the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"And what about yourself?" Scar asked. "Does the same apply to you?"

"Nope. If you think you need to kill me, go right ahead and try. I don't think you will be able to, though." Ajax handed Ed a tube as he was talking, and Edward looked inside to see several rolled-up papers.

"How can you presume you will be able to evade me?" Scar asked.

"Like this." Ajax said pushing the armband button. A moment later, Ajax was standing on the bridge of his ship, looking out through the window. "Good luck Ed." he whispered.

_Alright, so that's done at long last…I apologize for taking so long to get this done up, but I forgot I needed something to actually be written on the Infinatus fragments. Anyhow, this chapter was brought to you by several pointy death glares from Master of the Blood Wolves. (returns pointy death glares for RotS) Green Mountain coffee might have helped too._

_Answers to readers:_

_Master of the Blood Wolves: Am flattered that I made it to fav author. I have a hard time writing in 1st person, and I ended up switching back to 3rd. I think this will be a good story, if anything else I've done is any indication._

_NinthFeather: Ajax is a very hard character to work with, and I'm working on the strengths and weaknesses. I'll try to show more in the next chapter, but for the most part, Ajax won't be around the SG-1 team. It's OC-centric, which is why it focused more on Ajax, neglecting the others…he wasn't around the others the whole time._

_And now for the closing as brought to you by Avenging Angels, the best beta I know of!_

**Awe well thanks Hideout Writer, that means a lot.**

**Anyways from what I can tell Ajax is a difficult character to write for. Often times when I beta for him the most I can add in is a bit of emotion in such things as looks he might give, postures, feelings. Over all I get that he is really a light hearted character with a tough outer shell. He loves his music but knows what it is that is needed of him and will always get the job done. Much like Hideout Writer himself who does an excellent job portraying Ajax.**

**So, give the guy some reviews! And don't forget to check out his other story that I am also betaing for. The Stargate of Alagaesia.**

**Fly on,**

**Avenging Angels**


	3. When in the Federation

After retrieving the fragment from the museum in the Fullmetal Alchemist reality, Ajax was once again aboard the _Phoenix _and keying up the specialty drive.

When the flash abated from view, Ajax found himself staring down five ships, each with bulky glowing nacelles that extended out from them. One of the ships hailed Ajax.

"This is Captain Bates of the Federation Starship _Chaska_. Identify yourself at once!"

Ajax looked at the screen mounted on the left wall of his bridge. "My name is Ajax." he said. "And the reason that my communications screen is mounted on the left wall of my bridge is because it's unimportant. Good day." Ajax terminated the link, and stabbed the gear selector into second gear.

The ship lurched forward, twisting sharply to the left as it did so. Bright red star-bursts flew out from the Federation vessels, and Ajax opened a hyperspace window, leaving the Federation vessels behind to figure out what had happened. When Ajax dropped out of hyperspace ten minutes later, he found a planet with a Federation starship hanging in orbit, facing a saucer of unknown origin.

_Enterprise-D:_

"Typical." Q announced. "How typical. Savage life-forms rarely follow even their own rules."

"Get off my bridge!" roared the captain.

"Interesting, that order about phasers." Q said quietly.

"Standing by on phasers, captain." Tasha Yar said, tapping her console.

"Please, don't let me interfere." Q said snidely. "Use your weapons."

"My order on phasers was a routine safety precaution." Picard returned firmly.

"The meaning of that vessel is a clear as the noses on your ugly little primate faces." Q retorted.

Eventually, Q left, and Picard breathed a minor sigh of relief. He returned later, and Worf noticed something that the alien vessel was doing.

"Captain, look!" Worf cried, pointing at the viewer.

"Transporter chief! Bring our people back!" Picard cried "Transporter chief!"

"He can't hear you." Q stated.

"I'll do anything you say if you'll let me bring them back." Picard said, addressing Q. A moment later, a purple mist dropped off the away team and Zorn.

"Anything I say." Q said, almost more to himself than anyone else.

"I do remember making that bargain." Picard said quietly, forcing himself not to regret it.

"That bargain is invalid." Trio said, stepping away from where she had been transported to. "The alien sent us here."

"She lies!" Q cried, standing up. "Make photon torpedoes and phasers ready. Fire on that vessel!"

_Meanwhile, on the Phoenix:_

"Well, a Federation vessel. That's interesting, but not completely unexpected. Computer, uncloak the ship." The Phoenix uncloaked, and the Federation vessel took note almost at once.

"I am Q, of the Federation vessel _Enterprise_." Ajax heard from the viewer and leaned forward expectantly. Another voice came across the viewer. "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard, captain of this vessel. Please identify yourself at once."

Ajax looked at the viewer in slight surprise. "Two captains. That is a true oddity." he grinned. "Which one can I give the finger to while paying the most attention to the other one?" He snorted as their eyes narrowed but started up again as they made to speak. "Nevermind, I'll pick. Q, you're the unimportant one, and Picard, I'm respectfully paying attention to you."

Onscreen, Q began spluttering, and Picard's face showed some form of relief. "Thank you." Picard said. "Do you mind telling me exactly what's going on over there?"

"Oh, I'm on a mission to pick up the pieces of a puzzle that's roughly ten thousand years old, give or take, and when said puzzle is completed, it gives you access to another puzzle that points the way to a very large storehouse of weapons, knowledge, and wealth left behind by the Alterrans. The one who set up this puzzle, Ganas Lal, left the varying pieces in several different realities, this being one of them."

"Strange," Q said "I've been all over the universe, and I've never even seen traces of thought about alternate realities for a few centuries now. Here you are, not just thinking about it, but doing it? I'll have to visit your reality."

"You wouldn't like it." Ajax returned. "Computer, switch to central view."

On the Enterprise, the view screen blanked out for a moment, then came back, showing Ajax from a different angle.

"You wouldn't like my reality, because we are in the early 21st century, and rather barbaric. There are things I have done that I regret very deeply, but I had to do it in order to survive." Ajax stepped out of his chair. "the reasons for that are this," he extended his left wing, beating it slightly to show off the feathers. "And this." he extended his right wing. Seeing the _Enterprise_ as he did, he knew that they had never seen anything quite like this.

"Now. I need your help, and I'm willing to share some technologies to obtain said help." Ajax said, folding his wings back in and sitting down.

"What sort of technologies?" Picard asked, attempting to get over his shock.

"Hyperdrive, for one. Asgard beaming, Rings, stargate…there's more I could share, but…you'd have to tell me what kind of help I can count on. If I have to dodge Federation Starships everywhere I go, you get nothing. If I'm given permission to go where I please, with the knowledge that I am not in any way affiliated with the Federation, I'll give you Asgard beaming. If you actively help me with my search, I'll give you whatever you ask, within reason, provided you can replicate it in one form or another and not remove it from my ship to use. I have tech-specs available…" Ajax trailed off.

"The whole nine yards. Know this though, comparatively speaking, I come from a barbaric child-race." Ajax smiled then, a sad smile that showed his cynicism. "My race is so young there are fewer than twenty all told."

"And yet you already posses knowledge of hyperspace?" Picard asked, sounding relatively impressed.

"I come from an off-shoot of humanity. 98% human, two percent avian. That's how I have wings, and why I am so comparatively barbaric. I had to fight to survive. I would have been content had they just embedded a chip or two, and tracked me with varying bits of data, but they tortured me, and honestly, there's only so much someone like myself can take. If you have to destroy me for that, you overly-curious, overly-proud near omnipotent being, then you go right ahead, just make it quick."

On the _Enterprise_, Q merely looked thoughtful, and chose not to do anything.

"I will need some time to think about it." Picard said. "I will hail you in half an hour."

The channel closed, and Ajax went to the commissary to hunt up some food while he waited. After ordering the _Phoenix_ to scan for Infinatus-like signatures, Ajax sat down to wait.

Twenty-five minutes later, Ajax was holding a printout from the scan, and looking out on the Enterprise as she hung motionless. The saucer was gone, and Farpoint was missing, but the ship still waited. Three times during the half-hour, Ajax received an alert stating that the ship was being scanned.

"_Phoenix_, lay in a course for the nearby asteroid field, and engage in…" Ajax thought for a moment. "Fourth gear." the computer acknowledged the order, and the ship swung it's blunt nose towards the asteroid field, breaking orbit, and slowly moving towards the field.

As Ajax had anticipated, the _Enterprise_ followed along, keeping pace with the _Phoenix_.

"Charge weapons." Ajax commanded. "Target the asteroid directly in front of the ship."

Twin lines of bright blue light lanced out from the nose of the ship, striking the asteroid as a volley of missiles streaked out from the ship. The asteroid was destroyed, leaving little more than a cloud of debris, and the Phoenix continued on, resolute in her course, shields flickering slightly now and again, as small chunks of asteroid hit the shields.

Just then, _Enterprise_ hailed the _Phoenix_.

"This is captain Jean-Luc Picard speaking. I accept your invitation, with one provision."

"Roger that. What is the provision you have in mind?" Ajax said, not looking up from his consoles.

"There will be a minimum of four of my crew members aboard your ship for so long as you are in this reality."

"Very well." Ajax said, looking at the viewer. "May I request that three of those four be your First Officer, Chief of Security, and Chief Engineer?"

"Those were just the people I was going to send." Picard said.

"Your beam, or mine?" Ajax said, getting up from his chair.

"Ours. Your transport technology is untested to Federation standards."

"Very well." Ajax said, parodying a salute. "I await your arrival. Meet me in the starboard flight deck. Phoenix out." With that, the viewer closed, and Ajax moved to the nearest elevator.

On the flight deck, four Starfleet officers found themselves in a large hangar bay, much larger than the one on their own ship. There was a large door on one end, and the wall as far up as one story was slanted out a bit. There was a panel surrounded by black and yellow hazard tape, as well as a door control device nearby. There was a notice nearby, stating in bold, black letters **Warning: This Door inoperable while Launch Doors are open.**

"Cheerful." Riker said, indicating the notice. Just then, there was a hiss, followed by a click, then the door swung up, revealing the teenaged hybrid their captain had talked with earlier.

"Hiya." Ajax said, waving a little. "Ever been in an open F-302 bay before?"

Four handheld phasers were aimed at Ajax in an instant. He held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, calm down, I was just trying to be polite. I personally enjoy hanging out in here from time to time, with the door wide open. There's a shield that can be put around the bay doors."

At that, four phasers found their holsters again.

"So…I'll give you a tour of the ship, then lay in a course for the most logical place for the shard to be at."

"Oh?" asked Riker, eyes narrowed. "And just where would be the most logical place for it to be at?"

Ajax grinned and said in an overly sweet tone, "Why, the same place that the readings are emanating from."

The crew members glared at him. Ajax rubbed his hands. "So, introductions, then the rest of the ship. I'm Ajax, a human-avian hybrid, containing two percent avian genes in my genetic structure. Who are the rest of you?"

"I am Commander Riker, First officer of the _Enterprise_."

"Yeah, I know what ship you all are from." Ajax said. "I just need your handle so I've got something to call you by."

"Inquiry." stated Data.

"Yes?" asked Riker shortly.

"The meaning of handle."

"Oh, your nickname, code de gar, codename, designation…I could go on, but I'd rather not."

"I'm Geordi LaForge, chief engineer."

"Tasha Yar, security chief."

"I am Commander Data."

"Pleased to meet you all." Ajax said. "Now, where to first? There are about four strategic locations. The Flight Deck, which is where we are now, the Bridge, Engineering, and the Commissary."

"Well," said Commander Riker. "I guess we could start at the Commissary, on to Engineering, then to the bridge."

"Suits me." Ajax replied. As an afterthought he asked, "I suppose Data and LaForge will wish to remain in Engineering?"

"Yeah, I'd really like to check out this 'hyperdrive' thing that you talked about." LaForge replied. "But I don't know about Data."

"I tell you what." Riker said. "LaForge, you and Data check out Engineering, Tasha and I will be on the Bridge with Ajax."

"Yes sir." Geordi and Data replied.

"Fine, then. Right this way?" Ajax gestured to the swung-up door. As soon as everyone was clear of the door, Ajax pushed a button, and held it for a few seconds. The system emitted an extended bleep, then the door swung closed while a secondary door hummed closed like a standard pocket door.

"First stop, the Commissary. I'd just beam there, but I'm guessing that you don't want to do it that way?"

"No, we haven't tested your transporter."

"Fine, the elevator then."

They filed into a small, rectangular room, and the door closed behind them. "Deck one." Riker ordered, but the elevator didn't respond. Ajax just grinned, then pushed the button with the number five scribed on it. The elevator jerked, then moved to the fifth deck. "Commissary first, remember?" Ajax said, when the doors opened. "Besides, the bridge is not on deck one."

After a few moments, they arrived in what looked like a sort of kitchen combined with a restaurant. There was a window set in one of the walls, and through it, asteroids could be seen tumbling about. One such asteroid hit another, and bounced straight towards the ship.

"Hey." Ajax said, waving his arm. "Check this out. We've got a pretty good sized one coming in."

As the four Starfleet officers gathered near the window, Ajax said "_Phoenix_, R2-D2 on the incoming chunk-a-rock."

On the outside of the ship, a small turret engaged, and then there was a quick shudder as the ship fired the weapon, causing the asteroid to fragment. The now much smaller fragments bounced off the shield, little splashes of yellow showing where the fragments were hitting.

"Anyway, this is the Commissary, but I also call it the galley. It is a tactically important place because this is where the food is, and I have a strange addiction to having double the normal amount of food."

Ajax walked out, and the officers followed. Within thirty seconds, they arrived on the bridge.

"Welcome to the bridge. This is where I spend most of my time awake, and this is relatively well hidden compared to your bridge. You know, if someone were to shoot at the top center of your ship, you'd loose the whole bridge after shields fail. Here, it'd be more of a chance happening. You should be taking notes. This station," Ajax gestured to the modified station, ignoring the glares from the officers. "Is where everything happens. I re-outfitted it so that weapons commands are routed through here. Essentially, this station, and my voice, can control the entire ship. I'll leave you and Yar here while I escort Data and LaForge to Engineering. I'll be right back."

As soon as the kid had stepped off the bridge, Riker sat down in the chair at the modified station. A once-over told him what he wanted to know about the console. Just as he was about to get up, a lap belt secured itself around his waist, and two shoulder belts ran over his shoulders, across his chest, then secured themselves on either side of him, opposite the side they had appeared from. The metal that the restrains were made of was uncomfortable, and after a moment, they relaxed somewhat, giving Commander Riker half an inch of space to move around in. There was a slight hiss, and air pillows hidden in the metal restraining belts inflated, taking back the half inch of space. Tasha, who had been sitting at the other station, was likewise secured.

"Riker to Data."

The trio had been walking down a hallway after exiting the elevator on deck fifteen, three levels up from the flight deck, when Riker's call came through.

"Data here." the android replied.

"I've just been taken hostage by the master console chair. Tasha is similarly restrained at Tactical. Could you ask Ajax about this?"

"I will do so." The android replied. "Data out." he tapped his communicator, and the link went dead.

He then walked quickly to catch up with the Geordi and the youth, who were discussing engines from varying points.

"Commander Riker has been taken hostage by the master console chair. Tasha is likewise being held at the tactical station. Can you explain this?"

"Yeah, that's an emergency subroutine that he triggered. This ship was designed to be operated by a crew of about two hundred, but I had it rebuilt in a variety of ways, setting up maintenance in such a way that I could run this ship by myself. If someone other than myself sits at the MC, the computer assumes that the ship is in an emergency situation, and a restraining harness is activated so that if for some reason, inertial dampers go, the pilot and gunner don't go flying about the bridge as a result of maneuvers or impacts. Tell Commander Riker that I will issue a transponder for the four of you, and then when he sits down there again, it won't activate emergency procedures. In the meantime, the chair won't kill him, just keep him from flying around the bridge…I'll have him released in a moment."

Ajax walked over to a panel, pulling out a pocket screwdriver as he did so. Meanwhile, Data briefed Riker on what he had been told.

Behind the panel, there was a computer screen, and lights bordering the hole where the panel was. The said lights were flashing red, and the words **Emergency System Activated **were blinking in the upper left hand corner of the screen. After several moments, Ajax had penetrated seven layers of security, and disengaged the restraint systems on the bridge after turning off the Emergency System.

"We stop at the Locker on the way to Engineering." Ajax said. His tone brooked no argument, and after the panel was secured back in place, they walked down a corridor until the came upon a door marked **Non-Perishable Supplies, Electronic. **Ajax opened the door, and retrieved four armbands.

"Hold out an arm." Ajax said, and LaForge held his left arm so that Ajax could secure the armband. Ajax moved to Data. "Arm." he said, and Data stiffly held out an arm. Ajax quickly secured the band, then switched on the transmitter. "Could you hold these two while I program them?" Ajax asked. Data complied, and as the three walked down the corridor, Ajax pulled out a Blackberry and began coding the armbands.

The first one done was LaForge's armband, and he moved to Data's armband. Data's was a bit different because of the parameters required. The other three required just a name, but Data's armband required a different set of parameters due to the fact that he was a machine.

They arrived at Engineering.

"Well, this is it." Ajax said. "Welcome to Engineering. Life support, hyperdrive, trans-reality drive, weapons, beaming, and sublight are all controlled and maintained here. Whatever you do while you're here…actually, never mind. I'll just pull the crystals."

"So…you just run all that stuff through those two computers?" LaForge asked. "Because that doesn't seem very safe."

"No, I don't run all that stuff through those two computers. They're tied into the system, yes, but they aren't exactly critical. I run all those systems I mentioned through the trays."

Ajax bumped his fist against a darker panel set in the wall, and it hissed open, revealing a rack of crystals glowing blue. "Now, I'm sure you're the best engineer in Starfleet, but you don't know jack about all my systems, and I don't trust you to not have an accident. So, what I'm going to do is pull several keys from the trans-reality drive so that it can't be used. With anything else, if something happens, Enterprise will be nearby, unless you fire up the hyperdrive. Either way, we'll be able to fix it without too many worries."

Ajax had been pulling crystals out of the tray as he was talking, so he didn't noticed the look on LaForge's face.

"I'm not incompetent." LaForge said, steel in his voice.

"No, you're not incompetent. I never said you were. However, you are brand new to this ship and her systems. If you were to accidentally fire the trans-reality drive, and we ended up in a hostile region, it would not be good, because I would be forced to do some seriously snappy flying, and not get us all killed for at least four hours while it charges so we can get back out of there. I have intel on this place, and the worst I'll find at present is the Romulans or the Klingons.

Ajax bumped another tray, this one devoid of crystals, and inserted the crystals he had removed. Bumping it again, the tray closed. "Have at it." he said. "I'll be on the bridge."

As soon as Ajax left the Engineering section, LaForge called Commander Riker.

"Commander Riker, when Ajax gets to the bridge, could you ask him how he knows about reality as we know it?"

"Simple." Ajax replied through the communication system, easily overhearing them. "Were I come from, you are fiction. You, the Enterprise…everything that you know is fiction in other realities. There are a handful of realities that are mostly the same, and they fall into a larger grouping, so I've got the Star Trek realities, the Stargate realities, Star Wars realities…on and on ad infinitum. With the TR drive, it's no sweat for me to pass from one to the next…provided it's charged up."

On the bridge, Riker and Tasha had exited the chairs the moment the restraints allowed, and were leaning over the chairs to use the consoles there were interested in. Ajax and the two Starfllet officers had been gone for twenty minutes when there was a sudden hum, and Ajax seemed to drop to the deck from a flash of light.

"You know, I watched when you beamed over from your ship. I think mine's faster." Ajax said, moving over to the MC. He keyed in a command on the keyboard, and one of the sections on the sectioned view screen displayed a view of Data and LaForge looking through the computer systems, Data appearing to be able to cope with the technology difference better than LaForge.

"By the way, you should wear this. It tells the ship who and where you are, and that you are 'authorized' personnel." Ajax held out the armbands to Tasha and Riker. "Now the ship won't secure you in the seat unless other emergency criteria are met. Riker, you can sit in the big chair, I'm sitting at the MC."

"_Enterprise_, we are about to take a new course." Riker said, sitting down.

"Understood, Number One." came Picard's voice.

Ajax sat down, and calmly punched second. After that, Ajax progressed through the gears, only using the odd numbered gears as he climbed through the box.

"The readout suggests that I'll find the fragment I'm looking for on a planet three mega-clicks from here." Ajax said, twisting the wheel. He reached over and flicked a switch, and the lights dimmed to fifty percent of full capacity.

They had flown through the asteroid field while taking the tour of the ship, and now were flying back into it. In third, the field would have been no issue to navigate. In twenty-third, which was nearing full power, it required fighter pilot instincts to make it through.

Behind them, the _Enterprise_ watched as the _Phoenix_ twisted and spiraled as she dodged the asteroids. Picard ordered a speed of one-quarter impulse, due to the size of his ship, and let the deflector dish deal with navigating the asteroid field, rather than dodge each one personally.

They were headed for the first inhabitable planet in the system, the one that was closest to it's star out of all the habitable worlds, and as such, only had a small research station on it.

Ajax moved the shifter to neutral, then left the ship to coast into high orbit. "_Phoenix_, lock into high orbit, three to beam down to section 19-J." A brief flash of light, and Ajax was on the surface with Tasha and Riker.

"Told you is was fast." Ajax said. He pulled out his Blackberry again. Okay, according to my ship, the best signals are coming from…there." He pointed in the direction he was getting the signal from.

As they walked, Ajax looked around for signs of protective traps set by Ganas Lal, hoping not to run into anything. The museum a reality ago had been easy, just grab and go, but there was nothing here, save an obelisk with Ancient writing on it.

**"Beware, those who seek Infinity. The path you follow is not for the faint of heart."**

"What's it say?" Riker asked. "I've never seen that writing before."

"The rough translation is 'Beware, those who seek it, for the path is not easy.' I could go and actually translate it, but it would take some time…Jackson only gave me some rudimentary teaching in Ancient." Ajax said, still examining the obelisk. "Knowing Ganas, though, there's more than that to go by. She's left a clue around here somewhere. I just don't know where…" Ajax trailed off as he examined the piece of granite.

"Who is this Ganas person?" Riker asked, watching Ajax.

"She was once known as Morgan Le Fay, but her original name, several hundred years before that, was Ganas Lal. She once lived on the city of Atlantis."

"Atlantis?" Riker asked incredulously.

"Yeah, Atlantis, as in, the Lost City of." Ajax snapped. "Could you let me concentrate on this thing?"

Riker stepped away from the obelisk, and tapped his communicator.

"Riker to _Enterprise_." he said, voice low.

"Enterprise here, go ahead, Riker." came Picard's voice.

"Captain, this guy is saying stuff about Morgan Le Fay, and the Lost City of Atlantis. You might want to check it out, sir."

"Understood, we're beaming down with an away team. Enterprise out." Riker walked back to where Tasha and Ajax were looking at the obelisk.

"He's tapped on every symbol on this thing." Tasha said, noticing Riker's return. "Now he's trying to rotate them."

"Has he had any luck?" Riker asked.

"Will you two shut up and let me focus on this damned thing!" Ajax yelled, losing his patience entirely.

The two bridge officers glanced at each other then walked away from the obelisk piece. Tasha quietly said "He's been getting more and more irritated as he examines that thing. Maybe we should get Geordi to help."

"That's a good idea." Riker said. "That visor might just do the trick." he tapped his communicator just as Captain Picard beamed down with another away team. "Riker to LaForge."

"LaForge here." Geordi responded. "What do you need?"

"I need you to come down here…there's something I'd like you to examine." Riker said.

"I'll be down right away."

Within two seconds, Geordi had appeared in a flash of white light as the transporter moved him to the planet's surface. "What is it?" Riker wordlessly pointed at the obelisk. Ajax was getting to the bottom of the first face of the obelisk when he heard a quiet clicking, like something was being opened, the a beeping sound as the equipment scanned the obelisk.

"Will you get that blasted thing away?" he growled. "If I actually get something to happen, I need to hear the click."

The ensign, surprised by Ajax's angry demeanor, folded his tricorder, and walked back to where Picard was talking with Riker. Meanwhile, Geordi was quietly looking at the obelisk from all angles, and then he reached for a specific symbol, twisting it clockwise. There was a quiet hiss, then nothing happened for several seconds.

"What did you do?" Ajax asked, not showing his previous anger.

"I turned this thing after carefully examining the obelisk." Geordi responded. "It was the only one attached to anything."

Suddenly, the top half of the obelisk rose several feet from the lower half, revealing several circuit crystals. There was also a button crystal that Ajax saw. "Don't touch that button, whatever you do." Ajax said. "I need to get some stuff." Ajax walked off a pace, and then keyed his radio three times before saying "Ajax to _Phoenix_. Contents of weapon locker 8 to beam down."

There was a brief hum, then the requested items appeared in a flash of light. Ajax put his gear together before throwing the whole tactical vest on an zipping it up.

"Unless I'm wrong," Ajax started. "That's an Ancient obelisk, a form of transporter used by the Ancients on certain worlds. Whatever's on the other end is likely to be very unfriendly, so I recommend that whoever's coming with get some weaponry of serious power. Is anyone coming with?"

After a consultation around the Captain, it was decided that Riker, Tasha and Data would go. Geordi was to return to the Phoenix, and figure out more about the ship's systems while he waited.

Two flashes of light appeared, nearly simultaneously, and Data was on the surface.

"Gather 'round, everyone." Ajax called, standing near the obelisk. "Weapons ready?" He didn't wait for an answer, and tapped the crystal. There was a blue light, and then the four people standing around the obelisk were gone.

The obelisk had powered down, having accomplished it's task, and Ajax jerked before looking around wildly, pulling back the bar on his weapon as he did so. There was a faint path through the jungle-like area, and Ajax chose to follow it. "This way."

They came upon a chest half-buried on the path, as well as a rather forlorn individual seated on it. No sooner had the group approached the chest than a dome of yellow energy formed, before turning clear. Tasha pulled out her phaser, and shot the dome, but nothing happened, save for the field briefly illuminating near the phaser blast site.

"We're stuck here." The person announced bitterly, standing up. "Do you have any food with you? I'm starving."

"I give you food, you tell me exactly what you're doing here, and what has happened." Ajax said sternly.

The person nodded, and Ajax passed over a medium sized bag of trail mix.

"I came here looking for the treasure." the person said, opening the bag. "I thought it might be in the chest, but it's empty."

"I see." Ajax said, tugging his ear. He paced for a few seconds, then quietly cursed before opening the chest. There was no writing in the chest, so Ajax closed it again, looking around the chest for any sign of writing.

On a hunch, Ajax took his combat knife, and placed it in the chest before closing it again. Nothing happened.

"Commander Riker?" Ajax asked.

"Yes?"

"Take off one of your rank pips, and put it in the chest. Data, Tasha, please do the same." The three officers did as Ajax had instructed, thoroughly mystified by his actions.

"You sir." Ajax said, addressing the stranger. "Take something you don't need, and put it in the chest."

"Why?"

"Because I said so, because I'm following a hunch, and if I'm right, you follow instructions, and we get out of this dome." Ajax said tightly.

The man grumbled something about a perfect waste, then took his bolo off, and put the bolo and clasp into the chest. Ajax closed the lid, and the dome powered down.

"Sweet mama's hotcakes." Ajax said softly. "I was right." In a louder tone of voice, he said, "Let's roll. I have no clue how long that shield dome will stay off, so let's get out of here."

They walked on, finally coming to a cave.

Ajax took of the heavy gear backpack, and set it down on the ground saying "The Boy Scouts taught some really good things, Be Prepared is one of them." He pulled out a pack of 20 glowsticks, then pulled a pair of flashlights. He looked up at the rest of the group. "Any of you bring a light?"

Only the stranger had a light with him.

"Fine." Ajax said, shaking his head. He pulled two more flashlights before tossing one to Riker and the other to Tasha. After putting the pack back up on his back, Ajax clipped the barrel of each light into a C-clip, one on each strap. After turning them on, Ajax strode into the cave, weapon at the ready.

After some looking around, they came to the conclusion that there were two forks in the cave, but not much more than that.

"That's it?" Ajax asked. "That's it?"

Suddenly, a noise met his ears and he stopped, hand raised to the ones behind him. "Anyone else hear that?"

Everyone listened carefully, but didn't hear anything for several moments, then they all heard it.

"Help!" cried a child's voice. It was very faint, but Ajax was able to determine which fork to go down. They came upon a dead end, with no branches along the way. An inscription was there on the wall, and Ajax looked closer at it.

After several seconds, he started laughing. Written on the wall was this inscription:

I am seen, never felt.

I bring hope to the weary,

I can destroy all.

What am I?

**Can't speak Ancient, let alone read it? Slide here for translation.**

_I am felt, never seen._

_I bring hope to the weary,_

_Yet I can destroy all._

_What am I?_

Ajax looked at it for several seconds. "Wind!" The blockage dissipated, and they continued towards the voice crying out for help.

Eventually, they came upon the source, a child sitting in a cell, crying out for help, it's tiny face dirty. Ajax put his hand on the metal door, and tried to lift it, but it did not budge. The stranger joined in, then Riker told Data to open the door. Strangely, nothing happened.

"Same thing as last test." Ajax said. "Remember the chest?"

This time, everyone put a hand to the door, and it rose easily. The child smiled at them as they entered the cell to take off the handcuffs. As with the door, the cuffs came free only when everyone was trying at the same time.

The child smiled once more before slipping out of the cell, the door dropping behind them. They tried opening the door again, but this time, it refused to budge. Suddenly, the cell shot up, stopping after it had cleared the outside surface of the mountain. The door then opened of it's own accord, and the final test stood before them. It was a table with several oddly marked stone squares on it.

Ajax picked up the stones, examining the mark on each one in it's turn. He started putting them back, in a specific order. As he did so, the ground began shaking, slowly descending back into the cave. As soon as the last one was properly back in the table, a steel plate closed over the tray of squares, then the whole table-top rocked back to reveal a number of precious jewels, as well as a piece of obsidian. The platform smoothly returned to the surface.

"You guys can have the rest." Ajax said, grabbing the black chunk. "I'll take this."

The next few weeks went past in a blur, as Ajax spent a great deal of time patiently explaining certain systems.

_Enterprise_ had been tasked with a survey mission, and the _Phoenix_ was flying nearby at full sub-light, officers beaming on and off the two ships at a rate that gave Ajax a headache.

The _Enterprise_ crew noticed an odd energy cloud, and made a course correction to avoid flying through it, but Ajax was sleeping in his quarters at the time, and no such adjustment was made on the _Phoenix_.

Down in the engine room, the weapons tray blew out, initiating a ship-wide alert.

Ajax heard the repeating tone once, twice, then a third time, then it was shut off, and the sleepy human-avian hybrid decided it was nothing, returning to sleep.

The next day, Ajax woke up to the sounds of classical music. One song after another was skipped, before whoever was going through the music library found some more modern music, settling on the Nightwish song, Romanticide.

A fully-awake Ajax made his way to the commissary, where he whipped up his breakfast, and ate quickly. On the bridge, ten minutes later, Ajax was talking with Picard.

"We received some odd sensor readings from your vessel after you flew through the energy cloud." Picard said.

"Energy cloud? I was sleeping, never noticed a thing. Everything looks to be in working order…except for the weapons, the whole tray seems to be down…"

"Well, we wanted to thank you for the technology that you gave us, and I was wondering if there's anything you'd like that we'd be allowed to give you?"

"Holographic technology." Ajax said. "I'd like to fit each deck with it."

If Picard was confused by the request, he didn't show it. "Very well, we will send the specifications for the holographic arrays to your computer banks in a few minutes. When are you leaving?"

"Soon. I need to move on already." Ajax responded.

"I understand. Picard out." The link died, and then the computer received a new piece of information from the Federation vessel. Ajax examined the item, then sent it to the Object Creation System.

It began working on creating holographic arrays while Ajax swung the ship about, then engaged the TDS drive.

_Answers to Readers:_

_Master of the Blood Wolves: Death Glares are unnecessary. Death Stars on the other hand…_

_There is no AI in that chapter, just enough automatic control systems to keep things working. It's like the autopilot in a 747, it's keep the plane going right…most of the time, anyway._

_The controls are a mix of tractor-trailer and airplane, with a touch of the stock exchange thrown in for gigglies._

_Ajax takes four letters, rather than the usual two, due to the fact that I use him as my window into what I'm writing, OC and SI. Hopefully his darker side is more visible here?_

_NinthFeather: Ajax-san is still going. As far as Al went, the fight didn't go long enough to push him over the edge, sorry. As far as Burnt Popcorn, I couldn't help it. He's threatening to transmute my computer, but I just told him he's an item of fiction. He's unimpressed._

_And Avenging Angels will close us out, right?_

**That's right! Hey, and no death glares! (Jk I give them all the time, especially to my younger sister.) Anyways, remember to R&R, Hideout Writer works hard to get these chapters to you guys. The writer inside him is dying to get out! lol**

**Sincerely,**

**Avenging Angels**


	4. Maximum Rescue

The _Enterprise_ was gone, and a quick probe indicated that she was never here. "Lay in a course for Earth, and engage hyperdrive." Ajax ordered.

"As if." came a voice from the speaker system.

_The hell,_ Ajax thought. "What's going on? Who's there?" Ajax asked, eyes narrowing as he twisted, looking around.

"I'm me." replied the voice. "And as for what's going on…I still need to get used to this ship."

Ajax sighed, then muttered something about incorrect security procedures. "Were you on the _Enterprise _before I showed up?" he asked, allowing frustration to seep into his voice.

"Oh no, heavens no. I was in the cloud that you flew your ship through."

"And you were forced to hop aboard, or you were just curious?" Ajax responded, trying to get a handle on the situation.

"Oh, I was just curious. And _soooooooo_ bored. This ship might be smaller than that cloud, overall, but can do so much more…"

"Were you in that cloud as a punishment?" Ajax queried, thinking hard.

"No, not really…Q was messing around…wanted to see how I'd react to being trapped in a cloud that I couldn't control." the voice, unmistakably feminine, heaved a sigh as if suddenly very tired. "I could have been trapped in that cloud for years, or just minutes, I don't know. I had no sense of time in there."

"Well, let me get down to Engineering, and I'll explain the systems as best I can…you can watch through the security cameras, right?"

"Yes, those were simple enough to figure out."

"Good. Let's go." Ajax said. He would have strode through the doorway except for the fact that whatever this entity was, it hadn't figured out how to work the doors. There in front of him, the doors were cycling back and forth, opening, closing, opening, and closing with soft whooshes of air.

"Are there any systems you have figured out?" Ajax impatiently yelled out.

In response the Asgard beaming technology picked him up, depositing him in Engineering.

"There's also the lights and life support." the voice said.

"Did you read the database?" Ajax asked dryly.

"Database? Where?" the voice asked, clearly surprised.

"In the computer." Ajax responded, grinning slightly to himself.

He got no response, and was examining the weapons tray when, five minutes later, he heard "Ooooh, so _that's_ how you do that!"

"You all squared away down in there?" Ajax asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, laying in that course you wanted." the voice said.

The ship lurched slightly, and then they were in hyperspace.

While they were traveling back to Earth, Ajax created several holographic emitters, as well as replacement crystals for every slot in the weapons tray. He had just inserted the last crystal in the tray when the ship dropped seamlessly out of hyperspace.

"We're here!" the voice called in a sing-song tone. "What next?"

"Establish a position at high planetary orbit." Ajax responded. "I'm on my way to the bridge."

The entity sped things along by beaming Ajax to the bridge, and after a moment, Ajax looked around. Something caught his attention, and he said "Congratulations, you just restarted the space race."

"Is that bad?" came the voice, sounding fearful.

"Nope. The US just stopped using their old orbiters, but now that they know there's intelligent life out there, they will be raring to get back out here, using any means necessary."

(Line Break)

"Zese exberimints have caused enough trouble as eet is. Ve should just derminate dem." a thick accented man said, hands clasped behind his back pushing his white lab coat around his small waist.

"Agreed. You may conduct any last tests you like, then see to retiring them." this voice was free of any accent, and very cold. "I hope you can do your tests…quickly."

"I 'ave no furzer testz for zem. Zey are too much trouble!" the other said, clearly frustrated. A click of the door indicated that the man had left.

"The Director will need new experiments…better trained this time…Nichols!" the man yelled the last word out.

"You called, Sir?"

"Yes. Go, get me several pregnant women who have no plans for keeping the baby. Promise them a good deal of money if they will just let us have their baby after they carry it to term."

"How much am I allowed to say, Sir?"

"Oh, no more than a hundred thou. Try not to tell them that's as high as you'll go, they'll snatch that quick. Start at about a thousand, and work you way up, slowly."

"Yes, Sir. Right away, Sir."

The door closed again, and the man returned to his computer, examining the marks on the obsidian fragment.

"Zis ees your last test." the thickly accented man said. "Eet is a test of endurance. Death Valley can be very deadly to zose who cannot eescape eet. You vill be locked een your cages, and left in zee sun to die. Zat ees all."

The six human-avian hybrids looked at each other in despair, and on the face of the oldest girl there was clearly outrage. The locks on the cages were out of reach, those inside couldn't reach the door opening mechanism to open it, and even if they could, the bars were electrified.

An Eraser (2% Lupin, 98% Human) turned off the electric current, then loaded the crates onto a rolling cart, growling and howling with laughter as he snapped at the six inside.

The cart was rolled out into the courtyard, where several burly Erasers unloaded the crates, setting them up so that they were arranged in two rows of six. It was four in the morning, and very cold. Soon, the sun would rise, and bake them alive, but for now, they shivered in silence. Nothing needed to be said, because there was nothing left to say. There was no plan that could save them here. And the leader had long since given up trying to talk their spirits up.

They were doomed.

The Erasers went back inside for a new mission briefing, then boarded a helicopter twenty minutes later. With the sounds of a screaming engine, and the clattering of blades, over ninety percent of the Eraser population left the Death Valley location.

Three minutes later, a brief white flash of light appeared near the cages, fading to show a human-avian hybrid, dressed for a heavy combat situation.

He quietly spoke into his radio, and while nobody made out what he said, they clearly heard the female voice on the other end saying "Acknowledged. _Phoenix_ out."

The hybrid walked over to the cages, and opened the first one he came to: Angel's crate. He helped her to crawl out, then put an armband on her right arm, and pressed the button on it. It flashed red for a few seconds, while the stranger moved away slightly, then a white flash appeared, and Angel appeared to jump straight up, out of view.

"She's safe now." the newcomer hissed, peering into the dimly lit cages where five pairs anxious, worried, and furious eyes looked out at him.

"But we have to be quiet about this."

The next cage was Gazzy's cage, and within ten seconds of his exit from the crate, the beaming technology locked onto him, and snatched him up as well.

Iggy was next, then Nudge.

After Nudge had left, the stranger moved to do with Fang what he had done to the other four, but Fang pinned his arm behind his back as soon as he was set loose.

"Who are you?" he hissed. "Were did you send the others?"

"My name is Ajax-," came the reply, low and calm, "and your friends are safe and sound aboard my ship, the Phoenix. If you don't let me go very soon, I'm going to be forced to do something you very much won't like."

Fang paused then complied, but did not allow Ajax to put an armband on his arm. "I'm watching you." he growled, deep in his throat, his dark eyes glittering.

Ajax nodded stiffly and reached up to his shoulder. "_Phoenix_, three to beam up."

When the light cleared from their eyes, what Max and Fang saw nearly blew their mind. The rest of the Flock was sitting near the edge of the launch bay, and Gazzy was leaning over to Iggy, probably describing the view. While Fang walked over to the others to see whether they were okay or not, Ajax opened Max's crate, which had beamed up with her still inside.

"Here." he said, holding out one of the armbands. "This gives you full access to everything on the ship, that's why I was putting one on each member of your family." Max accepted it, though she looked at it as if it might bite her arm off if she put it on.

Ajax pretended not to notice. "If you need directions anywhere, just call out. _Phoenix_ can tell you where you need to go. I have some things I need to do on the surface."

"Like what?" Max asked, curious, seemingly unable to let the stranger who had saved them out of her sight. Ajax didn't blame her much.

"Well, I'm thinking that whoever's in charge of the facility might look quite a bit better with this on his head…" Ajax picked up the empty crate. "_Phoenix_, one to beam down."

Ajax and the crate vanished in a flash of white light.

Ajax quietly walked up the flight of stairs, carrying the cage with him. There were a few offices on either side of the hall as soon as he stepped inside, with a break room slightly further down. He quietly set down the cage on the linoleum flooring, then looked around. Seeing a light on in the third office on the left, Ajax moved to investigate.

"Ahem." he said, knocking at the doorway.

The man behind the computer jumped slightly. "Ah! Who are you?"

"I am Ajax, captain of the Tau'ri warship _Phoenix_, on a mission of exploration. Your facility was chosen because my ship was overhead at the time, and because of rumors about illicit activity concerning genetic research."

"What would you know about that?" the scientist spat, standing up.

"Oh, my people are very familiar with illicit genetic research…it tends to be so much easier that way."

"What do you mean?" the man said dangerously.

"Just this," Ajax said, voice like ice. "In an illegal situation, you don't have to worry about government red tape, you can just carry out the experiments you need done, and nobody is the wiser…unless you get stupid about it. I was the product of illegal genetic research, but the people that created me weren't stupid."

"What are you insinuating?" came the quiet question.

"Oh, merely that you are very sloppy." Ajax replied and snapped out his wings. "See, if you let your experiments run free, and one of them happens to show up in your New York City, and people get pictures, then everyone knows, and if your experiment can read, then you'd be in big trouble, because in exchange for some money, which would equal food to them, then suddenly, the lid is off your operation, and your Federal Government comes down around your ears. Not to mention the fact that you torture them."

"And just how where you created?" the scientist asked snidely, staring at his wings. "I'm all ears."

"Well, I can understand that the situation is slightly different because your race can't even figure out how to make artificial gravity, but I was raised in a bio-dome on a vessel hidden behind an unexplored asteroid. That ensured that nobody knew anything about what was going on.

"The second thing was that I was treated with respect and dignity, almost like I was better than those who had created me. I faced tests every day, but for each test that I underwent, a so-called 'perfect specimen' did each test with me. By perfect, I mean a clear genetic make-up - not tampered with like mine was.

"Thirdly, I was promised my freedom after a certain amount of time, provided I complied with all their tests. Those three factors were enough to keep me content with my lot in life."

Ajax finished his mini-lecture, and stood up. "Via your triple W network, I have informed your Federal government what has been going on. They'll be here any minute."

"No, they won't." the scientist said. "We have a security system."

"So? Who doesn't have a security system these days?" Ajax asked, shrugging with a slight grin.

The man smiled toothily. "It sounds to me, from what you told me at least, that the people who created you were held back by ethics. We don't have any of those here. As far as out security goes," the building shook slightly, and Ajax had the feeling that he was moving though he stood still, like the bottom was dropping out.

"Our building drops into the ground, and nobody is the wiser. We're gonna take you apart to see how you tick!"

"You know, I lied." Ajax said, interrupting the man's wild laughter. "What you're doing here is exactly like what happened to me, except for the fact that they let me read books to see how much I could regurgitate on command. As it turns out, I'm a regular audiobook!"

"Fascinating." The scientist hit a second button on his desk, and Ajax heard the sounds of people running to the office.

Ajax drew a weapon, and backed into a corner. "Ajax to _Phoenix_. One to beam up!" Nothing happened.

"We have a dampening field engaged." the scientist said smugly, his grin sardonic.

"I have an automatic." Ajax retorted. No sooner had he stopped speaking than the Erasers burst through the door and opened fire with their semi-automatic handguns. Ajax sprayed them with his weapon, taking more than a few bullets in the process.

In the end, Ajax won the battle, due to a higher firing rate, but was considerably weakened by blood lose and shock. After using most of the first aid kit contents on himself, Ajax found a few needles of adrenaline, and stabbed on in, saving the other one for after the first had worn off. As that, he disengaged the dampening field, and re-initialized his scanning equipment, searching for the fragment they had.

Finding the fragment, he shoved it into a mostly-undamaged pocket on his vest, and looked about for the codes to bring the building up.

_Outside:_

"These are the coordinates indicated?"

"Yes, we are at the exact coordinated provided in the email. The building isn't here, though…must have been a prank. Pack it up, we're leaving." No sooner had the official said that than did the ground begin to rise up from the ground.

"Everyone jump!" he yelled, panicked.

The building rose to a height of five stories before making a clicking sound, and stopping.

"Well, I guess it wasn't a prank, right?" an agent said, his eyes as wide as the rest who didn't look away from the building.

"Let's move!" a total of fifteen Federal agents stormed the building, ready to attack.

They reached the experiment holding room, and were shocked by the horror of what was there.

"That's…that's sick." one agent whispered, covering his mouth with his hand which was shaking.

"Yeah, we're gonna let the aftermath squad take care of them, let's go."

Room after room they searched, but aside from two scientists, and several dead humanoid wolves, they found nothing of true interest.

"All right, what ever happened here is obviously over. Send the techies to comb through this place." the chief said. "Let's get out of here, this place gives me the creeps."

"Agreed, sir." the second-in-command replied. "My squad was all over fourth and fifth, all we picked up were a few lab workers. We cuffed 'em, sir."

"Good work. What about Charlie squad?"

"They had second and third floors. I didn't hear anything from them, sir."

"All right. We move out in two minutes." the chief said, making a few notes.

He was still jotting down notes when there was a startled exclamation, followed by the sounds of gunfire.

The group jumped, then charged up the stairs, following the sounds of gunfire.

Ajax was cowering behind a metal desk, putting shots into the ceiling, while five Federal agents were busy hammering away on the desk, denting it with each shot.

Finally, Ajax got tired of the shooting, and stopped firing. One by one, the Federal agents stopped shooting as well.

"Are we done shooting now?" Ajax asked casually, not daring to peak his head above the desk. "Because I still have plenty of ammo if we're not done yet."

"Will you come quietly!" one of the agents yelled, voice slightly muffled.

"Won't come at all if I have any say about it. I need to get back to my ship."

The agents looked at each other. "Ship?" one of them asked. Another muttered, "He's delusional."

"Yup. It's the item of hardware that probably just restarted your nation's space race." Ajax replied glibly.

"The space race was over a long time ago." One of the agents replied, voice overly patient.

"Yeah, I know. You people got to the moon, built a collection of tubes big enough for a few people, and have several thousand tons of trash in orbit, and now you've just retired your orbiters."

"Just about everyone knows all that." one of the agents said.

"Well, I know all that because your internet is so easy to access via satellite. The reason that I've restarted your space race is because I had dropped out of hyperspace about two, maybe three hours ago, and happened to pass in front of your collection of tubes. I'm guessing someone saw me."

"So, if you're an alien, what race are you from?" the agent asked, curious.

"The Tau'ri." Ajax replied. "I was just here to retrieve a fragment of an artifact that is very important to my people."

"Right. You know, we have a nice, white, padded room, just for you, with nice people in it to take good care of you." another agent said, voice sounding like he was talking to a child.

"I'm not insane, you idiot." Ajax snapped, becoming frustrated. "I'm going to put my weapon on your side of the desk. Next, I'll stand up, nice and slow, and show you two reasons why I'm telling the truth."

At this point, fifteen agents were in the room.

Ajax lifted up his weapon, a Genii-made weapon sent home from Atlantis, and pushed it over the edge of the desk, where it clattered to the floor. An agent picked it up, and examined it before handing it to his mission leader who also examined it.

Ajax raised his hands high, and slowly stood up.

"Just what I thought." the agent said. "Crazy."

"Not so fast." Ajax snarled. He took off his combat vest, dropping it to the ground. The agents still had weapons pointed at him. Slowly, Ajax extended his wings. The agents' collective jaw hit the floor, and Ajax grinned. "I guess you've never seen an alien, have you?" he asked smugly.

"We need to keep this on ice. Those pictures in New York weren't played off." the chief said. "What you boys have seen here today is classified. You breath a word about this, to ANYBODY, and you do time for treason. You got that?"

"Yes, sir." the group responded, clearly still in awe.

"Well, I have the fragment I wanted, so I'm going to take my weapon back, and be on my merry way." Ajax said.

"No, you're not going to be on your merry way." said the squad leader, voice commanding. "You're going to stay right here, and we are going to find out everything we can about your physiology."

"No, I'm not staying here, and you are not going to be studying me." Ajax said, grinning like a lunatic. "Because if I don't report in, then the rest of my people show up, and vaporize a few cities BEFORE asking for my safe return. From there, they just obliterate the rest of your world. It would take about…six days from start to finish. I was inclined to register this world as being in NAP status."

"Nap?"

"Yeah, Non-Aggression-Pact. In other words, we wouldn't be vaporizing cities, and taking over your lovely green and blue planet." Ajax explained. "But, I can't register this world as NAP unless I'm on my ship. So, I'm taking my weapon, and beaming back to my ship if that's alright with you?" Towards the end, it sounded like a question, and Ajax extended his hand for the weapon.

The chief thought about it for several seconds, then handed Ajax the weapon, eyes narrowed. "What is that, anyway?" he asked.

"The gun? It's a standard North-5, twelve millimeter handgun. Semi-auto." Ajax responded. He turned towards the window. "Someone had the wise idea to engage a damping field, and so I can't beam out until I leave the building. I can take out the window, and go that way, or you could let me walk out the front door like a civil person. Your call."

"Kowalski, Beck, escort this gentleman outside please. The rest of us will clean up a bit in here."

The two agents indicated moved out of the room, and Ajax followed one, while the other fell in behind him.

His wings were still visible, since Ajax hadn't bothered to hide them again after taking off his vest, and one of the tied-up scientists began telling the agents that Ajax was a criminal and here for experiments that had been sanctioned by the President as part of his sentence.

The agents seemed to believe him, but Ajax just clicked on his radio as soon as he was clear of the building, and said "_Phoenix_, one to beam up." The agents moved to arrest him, but the Asgard technology locked on his life signs, and moved him up to the ship well ahead of them, leaving them to stare after him in shock.

Max and her Flock had been gazing out into space when Ajax beamed back aboard.

"Well," he said, heaving a sigh. "That was the fastest mission I've done thus far." The Flock whirled around at his words, then relaxed slightly when they saw who it was. Ajax smiled, holding up a chunk of obsidian, and walked over to a control box. After punching the red button, he tapped his fingers on the box, impatiently waiting for the doors to close.

The Flock walked over to him as he waited for the doors to close, ready to find out what was next.

"So, what happened on the ground while you were down there?" Max asked cautiously, brown eyes narrowed slighlty.

"I engaged in a shooting spree against several Erasers and a whitecoat, used the contents of a first aid box and a couple needles of adrenaline to manage the magic trick of seeming less wounded than I really am." Ajax replied. The second needle was beginning to wear off, and Ajax was starting to tremble. The doors finally finished closing, and Ajax spun the wheel before opening the door that led to the rest of the ship. "You know about Erasers?" Max asked, surprised but hiding it well. Ajax ignored her and said with a tremble in his voice, "_Phoenix_, lighting path to Infirmary, please."

Most of the lights turned off as Ajax turned to the Flock. "Could you help me get to the Infirmary? I can't get there under my own power."

Max nodded mutely, though she wasn't fond of the idea. Together, she and Fang maneuvered Ajax down the lit path until they reached the Infirmary, where Ajax sat down on one of the beds. "Phoenix, resume normal lighting, please." Ajax said. The lights returned to normal, and Ajax slumped over on the bed.

Iggy was all business. "Where's the medical supplies?" he asked crisply.

Fang guided him towards the supplies, and then Iggy returned to where Ajax was laying on his side, his breathing shallow. Iggy worked quickly, extracting several bullets in the process of patching his patient. As Iggy was finishing up, Ajax said "You should go into medicine as an EMT or something. Triage type stuff. You could make a lot of money that way."

"Don't talk." Iggy advised. "You lost a lot of blood."

"The fridge." Ajax responded. "I've got a bunch of O-type avian supplementary blood in the fridge. A bag of that should…should do the…trick…with…another needle of…" Ajax paused to lick his lips, like he wasn't sure if he should keep going. "Adrenaline." his eyes closed, and he fell unconscious.

Iggy swiveled to 'look' in Max's direction, as if for confirmation, his glazed blue eyes wondering.

"I'm nodding, Iggy." Max said, looking at Ajax. "Angel? Were you reading his mind?"

"Yeah." Angel admitted, her voice slightly sheepish as she looked up at the other girl. "I couldn't help it, his mind was so fascinating!" she defended.

Max held up her hand wearily. "I'm not mad this time, Angel. What did you find out?"

"There's something called a TDS drive, and the ship is…, _alive_? That's about all I got from him." Angel said, shrugging. "His mind was really clouded with pain."

While Angel and Max were talking, Iggy had retrieved a bag of replacement blood, and a needle of adrenaline. Laying the needle nearby, Iggy carefully hung the blood bag on a hook near the bed, and then pushed an IV needle into one of Ajax's arms. From there, he hooked up the bag, and left it to drip into Ajax's system.

The needle was left for later, when the bag was empty.

"While we wait for him to wake up again, is there any food in here?" Nudge asked. She took a breath to continue, probably on one of her rants, when she froze as a voice interrupted her.

"There isn't any food in the Infirmary."

Max jumped in surprise then whirled shoving the younger members of the Flock behind her as Fang and Iggy got into fighting stances on either side of her. "Who's there?" she demanded, eyes flickering about the room.

"Don't worry, it's just me, Phoenix! And the Commisary is on Deck Five, this is Deck Ten. I could show you the way if you want." the voice sounded excited and eager to please.

"A talking ship." Max muttered to herself, shaking her head. "That makes me feel really safe." In a louder voice she said, "Sure, lead the way."

As with before, lights not along the path were disengaged while lights on the path brightened.

Max heaved a sigh, then followed the trail to an elevator where the number five was blinking. After a quick conference, the Flock entered the elevator, driven by the promise of food. Max pushed the number 5 button, doing her best to maintain an air of being calm, as if she did this every day. The elevator opened to reveal more light, leading out of the elevator. After about a minute, the Flock arrived at the Commissary, and the lights flooded back on in all sections.

After some scrounging around, the Flock had assembled lunch for themselves, and began a discussion on what to do now.

"This is a little too convenient." Max said, looking around at the rest of the Flock who was still eating. "Whoever this guy is, arriving when he does…there's a catch somewhere."

"Maybe this is another test." Fang offered, face emotionless. "Or the continuation of the last one."

That statement left everyone wondering what would run out first, and how long it would take to run out.

"But why would they give us this? Or is it not even real?" Nudge asked, holding her sandwich up and peering at it closely. For once, she was so serious that she chose not to continue talking.

"I resent that!" called the voice. "I am just as real as any of you are." The doors to the Commissary slammed closed, and the lights deactivated. "Now apologize."

Nudge's face crumpled, and she began to cry into Max's shoulder.

Surprised, _Phoenix_ opened the doors and reactivated the lights. "Now I gotta apologize." the voice said with a sigh. "Look, kid. I'm sorry for taking your comment the wrong way, I just didn't think before I reacted, and I'm sorry."

Nudge looked up in surprise.

"Is there anything I can do to prove how real I am?" the voice asked.

"You could blow up an asteroid." Gazzy said, voice animated and blue eyes blazing. "I'd be convinced then!"

"Okay." _Phoenix_ said cheerfully. "Blowing up an asteroid."

The view changed as the ship banked hard away from the planet, doubling back towards Mars and the asteroid belt.

"Where are we going?" Max asked, trying to remain calm.

"To find an asteroid, of course." the ship replied. "And to do that, we have to go past Mars."

"Okay, that's not strange at all." Max mumbled, glancing at Fang who just shrugged.

"As for you, Gazzy, you are going to the bridge so you can watch me make an asteroid explode." the ship continued.

"Oh, no your not." Max said, her voice firm. Gazzy, who had been standing up, sat back down.

"Uh, yeah, he is." _Phoenix_ replied. A moment later, Gazzy was beamed from the Commissary to the bridge in a white flash of light.

Gazzy found himself seated in the middle chair, and he adjusted to a more comfortable position, settling himself in to watch. Leaving the rest of the Flock staring at the spot he had been sitting only a moment before, eyes wide.

_In the Infirmary:_

The lights were off, the only illumination in the room being provided by the operating lights of a few select pieces of equipment.

Ajax was slowly coming to when he remembered all that had happened. For a long moment, he lay on the bed, tensed for action, then relaxed as full awareness of his surroundings kicked in, and he knew where he was.

The blood bag was empty, and Ajax casually pulled the IV needle out of his arm with a sharp yank and a yelp.

Expertly placing his thumb over the entry point, he grabbed a gauze square, and taped it in place with some medical tape. That done, he stabbed himself with the adrenaline needle, and discarded it when he had emptied it all the way.

Having thus awakened, Ajax moved out of the Infirmary on the prowl for food.

He was just walking into the Commissary when Max came barreling out, looking as pissed as Chef Ramsey. Still high on adrenaline, Ajax quickly pinned Max (he was surprised by her strength), then released her when she stopped struggling. Though her eyes were blazing as she glared at him. As Ajax let Max go Fang and the others came running up and Ajax stiffened prepared to throw them off when Max raised her hand, her eyes still on Ajax. Surprisingly, the Flock slid to a stop, though Ajax noticed that Fang still looked furious.

"Now that you've settled, and don't quite look like you'll take my head off, what's wrong this time?" Ajax asked, turning back to Max before rummaging through the cupboards.

"Your _ship_ has taken Gazzy to the bridge, without my permission!" Max yelled. "I'd strangle it myself if I could!"

"Rule number one when on a star-ship of any kind." Ajax said. "Never speak ill of the ship you are on. Now," Ajax shifted his gaze to the wall. "_Phoenix_? Are her allegations correct?"

"Yeah." came the sullen response.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted him to witness the destruction of the asteroid. He wanted me to blow up an asteroid to prove I was real. I don't quite get his logic, but I'm cool with random acts of destruction."

Ajax rubbed his face at this and took a breath, as if to speak.

"Language." Max warned. Ajax did a double-take before saying, "How did you know I was about to indulge in a stream of colorful language?"

"I've gotten pretty good at reading people." Max replied, shrugging her shoulders.

Ajax tilted back his head. "_Phoenix_? Level one-nine-one-seven, Grid two-oh-eight-three, Vector seven-eight-one-eight. Go."

"Acknowledged." the ship replied.

A blinding white flash washed over the ship, and then faded away. "Let's go." Ajax said, walking out the door. "Dr. Jackson needs the fragments I've got for him, and I have some other things that need to be done. Don't worry, you're in good hands. I'll see to it that Janet runs the lightest post-mission as possible for you, and I'll make absolutely sure that you don't have to stay at the SGC if you don't want to."

Max and the others looked confused, but Ajax was already on his way to the bridge.

Gazzy had been watching the asteroids with considerable interest when the door hummed open, and Ajax walked through at a brisk pace.

"_Phoenix_, change of plans, we're headed for the SGC." Ajax said, sitting down at the left hand console.

_Phoenix _did not reply, but fired at the asteroid that was directly ahead. It exploded, sending several large chunks flying towards the ship.

Ajax just shook his head with a sigh, then grabbed the gear selector, stabbing it into second. Twisting the yoke, Ajax guided the ship back towards Earth, up shifting as he went.

Gazzy, on the other hand, was cackling like mad. "That was awesome!" he said, blue eyes shining.

"Yes, I'm sure it was." Ajax responded, concentrating. "But there are far bigger fish to fry than _that_. _Phoenix_, establish a position in high orbit, geosynchronous with Cheyenne Mountain."

"Right away." responded the voice.

Ajax stood up from the terminal, and ran down to Engineering to retrieve the fragments of obsidian that he had picked up from the other realities. While he was there, he picked up the holographic emitters that he had created, and wired up Engineering so that holograms could exist everywhere within Engineering. Taking a few more emitters with him, he walked back to the bridge, where he found Max chewing out Gazzy over the 'blow up an asteroid' thing.

Ajax paid them no mind, choosing instead to wire up the emitters while waiting for _Phoenix_ to announce the fact that she was in position over Cheyenne Mountain.

He was just finishing up when the lights on the bridge brightened, and Max paused in her lecture/rant to look around in apprehension.

"We're here." _Phoenix_ announced. "Beam to SGC?"

"Yes." Ajax responded. "Everyone."

A bright light engulfed everyone on the bridge, and deposited them in the Gate Room of the SGC. The 'gate snapped off as SG-1 ambled down the ramp, spirits high.

"Yo, Mitchell!" Ajax said happily. "How's life?"

Mitchell looked at his gun, and then back to Ajax with a near psychotic grin on his face. "It was a good day." Mitchell said cheerfully. He folded down the stock on his weapon, and stepped completely off the ramp. "You got it?"

"It." Ajax stated. "Oh, you mean the key to the infinite supply of weapons and information? I don't have it all yet, but figured I might drop in, re-supply, leave behind some pieces for the puzzle, and get back out there."

"Oh, okay. Who'd you bring with you?" he asked, glancing over Ajax's shoulder at the Flock who was looking around wildly.

"Oh, just some people that a powerful organization wanted dead in another reality. I gave both parties what they wanted by taking these guys with me." Ajax replied.

A mic clicked on, and General Landry said "Post-op check in five, then a debriefing. Move it!"

_And that's the end of chapter four!_

_Now for some answers:_

_Master of the Blood Wolves: I have no clue what you mean about 'Alien', but the meaning of the energy could is full apparent here, I hope. As for the Q summary, what can I say? Genius strikes once in a while, I must have gotten lucky._

_NinthFeather: Well, I don't really see anything to answer here, aside from saying that you already know where Ajax is headed from here._

_And Avenging Angels, the best beta I have had the privilege to work with, has the closing. Avenging Angels, stage is yours._

**The privilege, and pleasure is all mine. Thanks to Hideout Writer for letting me be a part of this incredible story as well as his other story! Other than that, I really don't have much to say right now so….**

**Adios!**

**Avenging Angels**


	5. The Infinatus of Borg

Everyone went scrambling at Landry's command, SG-1 headed for the showers while Ajax herded the Flock towards the infirmary amid a great deal of death threats from Max.

"Look!" Ajax ordered, getting fed up. "I do herby solemnly swear that these people will give you-" he proceeded to tick off the items on his fingers, "a warm place to sleep, warm clothes as needed, and all the food you could ever need. All you have to do is put up with some protocols designed for the safety of everyone on the base. Believe me, SG-1, the people I was talking with, are going to go through a far more rigorous inspection, and they aren't freaks like us. Well, there is Teal'c, but that's a little different."

Ajax marched forward another three steps, then stopped. "Can we go now?"

"It's okay, Max." Angel said seriously, looking up at the older girl with wide, blue eyes. "They just want to make sure we aren't goolds. Everyone has to do it."

"Oh, well, if the mind reader says it's okay…" Max said, sarcasm dripping from her words. She rolled her eyes but followed Ajax as he led the way down the hall.

They walked for what felt like an intercity before finally reaching the right hall. Ajax came to a stop in front of a blast door, and withdrew a card from one of his tactical vest pockets. A buzz and click later, the door rumbled open, allowing the Flock to walk through grudgingly.

"Dr. Frasier! How's life been?" Ajax called out cheerfully, his arms wide to greet the doctor.

"Oh, it's been alright. How about you?" replied the woman's voice, her eyes widening slightly as she turned and saw Ajax with the Flock.

"Eventful. If you want all the really cool details, you'll need to come to the briefing." Ajax replied, wiggling his eye brows. "Use my numbers as the approximate baseline for these six, they are quite similar to my structure."

"Okay, should I ask where you got them?"

"Not really -ow!" Ajax jerked back slightly. "Sorry, you caught me off-guard there." he grumbled, wincing as the doctor pulled a needle out of his arm.

"That's alright, I'm done. All that's left is the x-ray." replied the doctor.

"Okay. Oh, and Dr? You're going to need to walk them through it, and they'll probably want to stay together…it's complicated, and they might not give up any secrets whatsoever…sorry." Ajax had a sheepish look on his face, but Frasier waved it off. "Don't worry about me; If I can survive Jack, I can deal with anyone."

Ajax nodded, then walked through a doorway into the next room, where the technicians had already gotten the scanner set up for use.

The scanner showed Ajax as being clean, and he rejoined the rest of the group in the main area of the infirmary just as Frasier was finishing with Angel, whom Max stood directly beside with the rest of the Flock mere feet away.

"We all good here?" Ajax asked.

"Just about." Janet replied. "Using the baselines you've given us before, they're good to go to the scanning part, then it's all done! Give Landry my regards."

"Sure. I'll ask that a copy of my debrief be made available for you if you want."

Two minutes later, the Flock emerged from the room with the scanner, mumbling various things, some of which Ajax was convinced were death threats. As soon as they were clear of the Infirmary, Max spoke up, speaking for everyone. "Why did we agree to do all that again?" Max asked, eyes slightly narrowed. "I don't think I remember."

"You did it for the extra two plates of donuts." Ajax said. "As well as food, clothes, a place to stay, all that jazz. At least you aren't baking in Death Valley right now."

His logic cooled the murmurs of dissent, and Ajax quickly performed the Ceremony of the Card, opening another gray blast door.

After ascending a round flight of metal deck stairs, the found themselves in an office-like environment.

A long, rectangular table dominated the room, with a bank of florescent lights suspended directly above. Ten executive office chairs were positioned around the table, and Ajax carelessly waved at the chairs. "Pick one, any one, but the end closest to that door belongs to General Landry, and the one at this end is where I'm going to sit."

Ajax was about to walk out, but Max stopped him. "Where are you going?"

"To get munchies for your family to consume while I discuss my mission with Landry." Ajax replied, not bothering to look back. He quickly descended the circular staircase, returning within three minutes with two large trays of food. After sliding one tray to each side of the table, Ajax sat down at the end table, and proceeded to mentally tackle a problem of epic proportions.

In reality, nothing at all was happening, but the ploy worked, and Landry hung up the phone in his office.

A moment later, he emerged from his office. "Sorry for keeping you people waiting so long, I was on the phone with the President." Landry said by way of apology.

"Angel?" Max whispered.

"He was on the phone with the President." Angel confirmed, then smiled, "but he's not actually sorry for keeping us waiting, it's just the polite thing to say."

"Thanks, Ange." Max straightened up in her seat just as Landry sat down, having missed the whispered exchange.

"So, what have you done with that ship we gave you?" Landry asked, flipping open a classified folder.

"I picked up three pieces so far. The first had been dug up and put in a museum, one was being studied, the other one was found undisturbed."

Three hours went by, during which two other SG teams returned, and Ajax finally finished with his debrief.

"What are we going to do with your new friends?" Landry asked at last, his eyes straying once again towards the Flock. Ajax saw his eyes rest on Fang, wrongly assuming he was in charge, Ajax felt his lips lift in a slight smile as Max's eyes narrowed.

"I was hoping you would see fit to let them stay with me on the _Phoenix _if they want." Ajax replied. "They could help find the pieces to the puzzle. Whatever happens, I would count it as a personal favor if you wouldn't have them 'studied' in any way, shape or manner."

"How did they come to join you?" the general asked and Ajax was glad he had spoken when he did. At 'studied', Max's mouth had opened and she'd begun to rise from her chair. Now she sat back, though only after a touch on the shoulder from Fang.

Again, the General missed the silent exchange.

"They were left in Death Valley to die. In a different reality, of course, but still…I couldn't stand by and let them die." Ajax responded.

"And do you speak for them?"

"Actually, sir, I believe she does." Ajax pointed towards Max who jerked her head.

"What is your name?" Landry asked managing to hide his surprise.

"Max." came the quick reply. "Maximum Ride."

"An interesting name. Do you want to go with Ajax, or would you rather stay here, with us? If you stay, we could release you into the real world…provided you swear not to divulge anything you saw here on the base." Landry explained, shrugging. "The choice is yours."

"Let me talk with my Flock about it." Max said, standing up. The rest of the Flock stood as well, and huddled together in a corner of the room, whispering fiercely.

Finally they broke the huddle, and returned to their seats.

"We've talked it over, and we'll go with Ajax…for now anyway. We might take you up on the other offer later, but for now…" Max trailed off.

Landry nodded as if he had been expecting that. "Very well. Ajax, we'll start getting your supplies ready for beaming right away. It should be ready to go by noon tomorrow."

"Very good, sir." Ajax responded. "Thank you for your time."

"Oh, Ajax?" the General said, stopping Ajax by the door with the Flock on his heels.

"Sir?"

"Get these people some more clothes. I'll send Mitchell and Carter as escorts." Landry said, face stern but oddly…parental?

"If they were left to die in Death Valley, they probably didn't beam up with extra clothes."

"Understood sir, thank you sir." Ajax saluted, and left the room, the Flock following behind, their faces slightly surprised.

While Mitchell took the boys out for clothes, and Carter took care of the girls, Ajax spent his time sparring against Teal'c.

They sparred harder against each other than they would with any other member of the base, because they knew their opponent could take it.

In the end, Teal'c won, but Ajax came close to victory on three separate occasions, only to get distracted and lose his opportunity. That night was the first night Ajax had spent off the ship within the past three weeks, and he tossed and turned through most of the night, subconsciously missing the sounds of his ship surrounding him.

The next day saw supplies being beamed up to the ship from the embarkation room.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to go." Ajax said, extending his hand. "Thanks for taking my friends off my hands for a bit."

"No problem." Mitchell replied, shaking Ajax's hand. "Next time, don't be such a stranger!"

"Sure thing." Ajax replied with a grin. "I'll see you around. _Phoenix_, seven to beam up."

Ajax and the Flock disappeared in the bright light of the Asgard beaming technology, leaving the 'gate room with only two people standing in front of the Stargate.

_On the _Phoenix:

Seven bird-kids materialized on the bridge of the ship, and Ajax quickly separated himself from the group, sitting himself down at the Master Control console.

"_Phoenix_, we're about to get underway, is the trans-reality drive charged up?"

"Yes, it's ready."

"Good. Let's get it to go! Max, could you get the supplies squared away down in the galley? It's all piled up on two skids."

"Sure." Max said, walking out of the room. A moment later, she poked her head back through the door. "Come on, guys." she said. "We need to get this done quickly."

"Gaz, please stay. I might need you at Tactical." Ajax said, gesturing towards the console.

The Gasman grinned and sat at the console. Meanwhile, Ajax closed his eyes, trying to find where he was supposed to go.

"_**Go to NCC-74656. Voyager."**_

Ajax stabbed the gear selector into fourth, then tapped a set of coordinates into the computer.

Shortly after breaking orbit, _Phoenix_ jumped into hyperspace.

Ajax was busy tapping a string command into the console to his left when a bright flash engulfed the ship, abating back to hyperspace.

Five minutes later, the ship dropped out of hyperspace, and Ajax engaged the cloak. A scan indicated a rather large nebula several days away at sublight speeds, and a Federation vessel was just coming into local sensor range.

"_Phoenix_, when that Federation vessel passes by, I want you to follow it closely."

"Understood." came the voice.

Ajax stood up and loped down to the restricted access room, where he keyed in a series of commands. After that, Ajax had the machine re-create the Starfleet uniforms used on Voyager and early DS9.

Instead of the rank pips that Starfleet used, Ajax created a miniature set of wings, three in gold, two in silver, and two in titanium.

Three of the seven uniforms created had red shoulders, intended for himself, Max and Fang. Iggy and Angel got science blue, while Gazzy and Nudge got Engineering gold.

Exiting the room, Ajax walked back to the bridge.

As he was returning, Max and the rest of the Flock came out of the galley, having finished stowing the supplies.

"What are those?" Max asked, nodding at the uniforms.

"Starship uniforms." Ajax responded, tossing hers to her which she caught deftly and examined.

"Do we each get one?" Nudge asked, her eyes full of excitement. A moment later, "Are they fashionable?"

Ajax chuckled. "I wouldn't be sure about the second, but yes, everyone gets a uniform and a rank pin."

"What do the various colors mean?" Nudge asked excitedly. Ajax could tell she was the 'fashion' type.

"Well, red is command," Ajax handed Fang the second red-shouldered uniform. "Gold is Engineering," he handed Nudge a gold uniform, "and because no ship would be complete without science officers or medical officers, we have science and medical blue." At this point, Ajax was still holding one red uniform, and one gold uniform.

"This is more my color anyway." Iggy murmured in approval, his fingers spreading across the fabric, his blind eyes closed. Angel was holding her's up to her chest and smiling ear to ear.

"Now, if you want, you may decorate the arms of your uniforms, from the cuff up to the elbow, but no farther. You each have key positions now, hopefully they are best suited to your strengths." Ajax walked to the bridge, where Gazzy was having an animated discussion with _Phoenix_ about weapons.

"I brought you something." Ajax said.

"What is it? Does it explode?" Gazzy asked, his voice animated.

"Goodness, I hope not!" Ajax retorted and Max nodded approval before disappearing to change. "It's your new uniform. Here." he handed the Gasman the hanger. "Take that to your quarters, put it on, and come back. I'll be back here in five minutes."

So saying, Ajax left the bridge with his uniform just as the ship began to swing around to follow _Voyager_.

Within ten minutes, everyone was on the bridge, wearing their new uniforms. The jackets had not been cut for wings, though Ajax was certain that the gray turtleneck shirt beneath had seen a knife or a pair of scissors.

"Maximum Ride." Ajax stated, standing behind the chair in the middle. "From this point until you decide that you will no longer be a member of this crew, you are the First Officer." Ajax walked around the chair, and stopped directly in front of Max. He withdrew a case from one of his pockets, and removed one of the gold pins from it. He showed it to Max, then pinned it to her uniform at the right side of the neck.

"Fang, from this point until you decide you will no longer be a member of this crew, you are the tactical analysis officer." Ajax pinned the second gold pin to Fang's uniform.

"Iggy, from this point until you decide you will no longer be a member of this crew, you are this ship's Chief Medical Officer." Ajax pinned one of the silver pins to Iggy's uniform.

"He's smiling with approval, Ig." Max said and Iggy grinned.

"Nudge, from now until you decide you will no longer be a member of this crew, you are this ship's Chief Engineer." Ajax pinned the second silver pin to Nudge's uniform, she beamed at him and he grinned, then moved on.

"Gasman. From now until you decide you will no longer be a member of this crew, you are this ship's Tactical Officer." A titanium pin was proudly pinned to Gazzy's uniform and he saluted.

"Angel, from now until you decide you will no longer be a member of this crew, you are this ship's Science Officer." The last pin in the box, made of titanium, was carefully pinned to Angel's uniform.

Ajax stepped back and addressed the entire group. "Serve with honor." he said solemnly and they each nodded.

After a few seconds, he began the briefing.

"We are in the Star Trek universe, somewhere in the Delta Quadrant. We are in Borg infested space, and we are currently following the Federation Starship _Voyager_. I have it on relatively good authority that _Voyager _has the piece we are looking for, or knows about it, or will end up leading us to it without knowing about it. Of the three, the last is most likely." Ajax sat down at the Master Control console, and said "Gasman, please take your station at tactical, there are Borg Cubes in the area."

From there, Max took her station, sitting down in what had once been referred to as 'The Big Chair', while Fang moved to the rear of the bridge, and began looking over sensor data.

Ajax was looking over an ion trail analysis when the ship shuddered as _Voyager_ detonated a photon torpedo nearby.

It did not do any damage, but _Phoenix_'s cloak failed.

"They're charging weapons." Fang announced, glancing at Ajax, still wearing that typical blank expression.

The comm beeped twice, and Ajax looked quizzically at it for a moment before saying "Forward viewer on. Open communications channel."

The segmented forward window changed to show the image being projected from the other ship. A woman wearing command red, her hair tied into a bun and her hands on her hips was standing, waiting for an answer.

As soon as the viewer on her end displayed the bridge of the Phoenix, she said "I am Captain Kathryn Janeway, of the Federation Starship _Voyager_. Please identify yourself, and tell me why you were following us."

Ajax looked at the image, and said "I am Ajax, the commanding officer of the Tau'ri warship _Phoenix_. I am on a mission to find an object highly prized by my people."

Janeway's face changed from a protective stance to interested almost instantaneously. "What sort of object? Maybe I can help you in your mission in exchange for safe passage through Tau'ri space?"

"It's a chunk of obsidian with runes cut into it." Ajax replied. "And this is no more Tau'ri space than it is Federation. I'm rather far from home, I'm afraid."

At that, Janeway made a motion towards the background, and the transmission cut out.

"They've powered down their weapons in lieu of a scan." Fang announced.

After about a minute, _Voyager_ re-established the connection.

"We have some doubt about your story…perhaps you could come aboard and explain it all?" Janeway invited.

"Certainly." Ajax said. Looking towards Gazzy, he said "Shields down, weapons stay off until I get back or the Borg show up, whichever comes first. Max, you have the ship."

Gazzy nodded, then dropped the shields as Max moved from her position to the console Ajax had just vacated. "_Phoenix_," Ajax began. "One to beam to _Voyager_."

A moment later, Ajax found himself on the bridge of _Voyager._

"Hey." said the guy at the front of the room. "He's copying our uniforms."

"Not quite." came the rejoinder. "Check the neck."

At the back of the room, a dark-skinned man was just putting away his hand phaser, having decided Ajax wasn't a threat.

"Captain, they're beaming again." sounded from the other side of the doorway. A young man who looked like he came from Asian descent was busy with several varying sensor readings.

A moment later, Angel materialized beside Ajax.

The reaction to her arrival was mixed. Tuvok, the dark skinned man in the back was stoic, while everyone else expressed various levels of surprise.

Finally the man in the front of the room spoke up. "Isn't she a bit young to be a science officer?"

"How'd you know she was a science officer?" Ajax countered. "And though she is 'a bit young', she is more than capable of filling her role than you could ever imagine." He got down to Angel's level. "What did you get?"

"The captain wants to know more about our ship, and there was some speculation about shooting out our weapon arrays."

"Are they likely to start anything?" Ajax asked quietly.

"No, not really, but they are far more than willing to finish anything if we start a fight." Angel said. "They have a slower FTL drive, fourteen phaser banks, whatever those are, and five torpedo launchers. Some of the crew belonged to a faction known as the Maquis, but after they got to the Delta Quadrant, their ship was damaged, then later destroyed in a battle, and the captain took them in after that."

Ajax had been so absorbed in what Angel was saying that he never even noticed the fact that the captain had heard every word of what Angel had said.

"Have you been following us since we arrived in the Delta Quadrant?" Janeway demanded, her face red and eyes blazing. "My ready room, now." her voice held steel, and Ajax dared not disobey that voice, though on the outside he acted as if it was all very natural. But as they started away Angel tugged his arm and said, "If you want, I can get us out of here." her voice was devious, and Ajax quickly shook his head. Angel frowned then shrugged.

Ajax decided then that there was more to the cute little girl than what met the eye.

As soon as they had cleared the door, it hissed closed, and Janeway spun around to face the two 'Tau'ri' officers.

"How do you know so much about _Voyager_'s systems?" she hissed.

"I can read your mind." Angel stated, matter of fact. "Your helmsman was thinking about what he would do if _Phoenix_ started firing."

Janeway stopped cold, and re-thought her plans. "Hot coffee," she said, leaning over a small alcove set into the wall. "Black."

The alcove bleeped in acknowledgement, and with a gently whirring sound, produced a cup of black coffee. Janeway made a face as she took a sip, the coffee was not as hot as she would have liked, but she was learning to ignore the passive-aggressive tendencies of her ship as expressed via the replicator.

"So, you read our minds, right?" Janeway asked.

"Yes." Angel replied.

"Is that a trait common to the Tau'ri?" This question was directed towards Ajax.

"No." Ajax replied. "It is a rare ability, most people who have anything close to this are able to sense strong emotions from people nearby, roughly the area of your bridge. She's actually able to induce action with her telepathic abilities."

A note was made on a small device that looked like a downsized iPad.

"What propulsion technologies does your ship use? Your science officer indicated that you were able to go faster." Janeway said, taking a long gulp of coffee as she studied them from over the rounded edge.

"We use hyperdrive." Ajax said. "Allow me to illustrate. We are in what I will call real space. Subspace is the layer directly below real space, and hyperspace is one layer up from real space. It is the equivalent of jumping out of a pool, then running around to the point you want to be at, then jumping back into the pool. Do you remember that quantum slipstream experiment you pulled off a while back?"

Janeway scowled at this stranger's knowledge of her ship, but nodded.

"That was very, very, very exceedingly dangerous." Ajax said. "In essence, you did the same thing as hyperspace, but you did it in the pool rather than getting out of the pool. It requires a much higher degree of technological advancement than you currently have."

Janeway pinched the bridge of her nose, an expressive display of fatigue, though Angel telepathically informed Ajax that it was not fatigue, just that she was highly annoyed by the level of pride exhibited by her guests.

"It's not boasting if you can back it up." Angel stated sweetly. "Besides, we didn't have the level of tech-no-logical advancement required for hyperdrive either. The Asgard gave it to us."

"The Asgard?" Janeway asked, clearly trying to hide her confusion.

"Your stereotypical gray alien with a proportionally massive head. They died out recently, a mass suicide, if I remember correctly. They took out an entire planet in their last defiant act." Ajax supplied, then, shrugged. "You wouldn't know them."

Janeway just nodded her head, and sat back in her chair.

"We've been able to use our hyperdrive to boost other ships into hyperspace with us." Ajax stated, after several moments of quiet. "It's not quite as efficient, but we could get you closer to home; cut some time off your trip."

"You can do that?" Janeway asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, we call it piggy-backing, and it's usually done as an emergency maneuver when a ship's hyperdrive engines are down, or in this case, don't even exist."

"Why did you copy our uniforms?" Janeway asked.

"Because I thought they looked cool, besides, Starfleet doesn't wear this style any more. They replaced the gray turtleneck with the color used on the shoulder, and all shoulders are gray now. Also, there seems to be a vest under the jacket now, they didn't do that before, if memory serves correctly."

"Really."

"Yeah. We chose not to do the pips or the provisional rankings in favor of the wings…it's something of a play on the history of myself and my crew." Ajax allowed a smile to come to his face as he spoke, and he could clearly see the wheels going into overdrive as Janeway tried to figure out what he meant.

Just as Janeway was about to ask about it, the radio in Ajax's pocket sounded an alert. He jumped, then pulled the radio out of his pocket, and clicked it.

"Ajax here, go ahead _Phoenix_." he said.

Max's voice came over the radio. "Phoenix has picked up some long-range signals related to the item we're searching for. There's a strong Borg signature associated with it too. She says that it's a damaged Sphere, if that helps any." Ajax could hear the shrug in her voice.

"That helps considerably." Ajax said, nodding. "Ajax out." he slipped the radio back into his pocket. "I don't care about the Collective, seeing as how I can outrun and outgun them at almost every turn, so I'm going for it. In between the lines, I was informed that the Sphere is more or less along your estimated flight path. I'm willing to jump your ship with us if you want, but you may need to shut down your warp core, I have no clue how those touchy things work, and don't particularly care to eat a face-full of Voyager while I'm in hyperspace, shields don't mean diddly squat out there, and I'm going to be right behind you."

"I'll take you up on that." she said, rising from her seat. "I need to steal another transwarp coil from them. It should help us to get home sooner if we can get it integrated right."

"Great." Ajax said cheerfully, clapping his hands together. "Oh, I was wondering if you and Tom Paris would care to come aboard my ship with two other officers of your choice?"

"I think I'll take you up on that offer as well; are we able to beam people from one vessel to another in hyperspace?"

"Mine can, I don't know about yours. Just to be safe, I'd like to construct a program in your holodeck." Ajax replied, thinking hard.

"What for?" Kathryn asked, placing her cup in the replicator. She touched a button, and the cup dissolved into a few sparkling lights that faded away after a moment.

"Rings." Ajax replied. "The only known way to safely move from one vessel to another while in hyperspace is the ring transport system. The Goa'uld have been known to use that method, and their physiology is nearly identical to yours and ours."

"What are the differences in your physiology?" Janeway asked, piqued.

"I'll show you when I'm back on my ship." Ajax replied. "Suffice it to say, truth can be stranger than fiction."

The three officers exited the ready room, and while Janeway headed for her seat, she issued a smattering of orders.

"Tuvok, escort these two down to holodeck one. Torres, shut down the warp core. I want it cold in an hour." she said, sitting down.

"Captain?" Chakotay asked, leaning towards Kathryn. "What's going on?"

"Our guests have offered to boost us with their hyperdrive, but don't know how our warp core will react. I'm just acting on the cautious side, is all."

Meanwhile, Tuvok, Angel and Ajax were on the turbo lift, dropping down to Deck 8. The current of emotion was palpable, though no outward sign was given.

Tuvok was worried for the security of his ship, Angel was doing her best to not express her irritation with tight spaces, and Ajax was concerned with how to engineer a ring transporter system out of light and photons held in magnetic containment.

The turbo lift squeaked slightly as the brakes engaged, and the lift stopped. The door hissed open, and Angel was the first off, followed by Ajax and Tuvok.

Tuvok took the lead, and came to a stop near a heavier door than seemed typical. "Computer, is this holodeck in use at this time?"

"This holodeck in currently unoccupied and there is no program running at this time." replied a slightly mechanical voice.

"You may proceed." Tuvok said, gesturing to the door. Ajax stepped up to the door, and listened as it seemed to wind itself up as it opened.

The three entered the room, and Tuvok quickly ran them through a tutorial on how to use the technology.

After the ten minute crash course was complete, Ajax began. "Computer, create a raised dais with a radius of five feet and a height of six inches." A slight whooshing sound, and the requested object was created.

"Create four rings, each with a thickness of one foot, and an internal radius of four feet with an external radius of four feet, six inches. Stack the rings vertically, with a distance of…computer, erase program." A whoosh, and the entire holodeck was cleared.

"Ajax to _Phoenix_, come in please."

"Max here, what do you need?"

"I need a tablet PC beamed to my radio location, with the full spec sheet on the ring transporter system." Ajax replied.

There was a pause. Then, "I've got Nudge on it now."

After a few minutes spent in silence, Max's voice filtered over the radio again. "Beaming in three, two, one, mark!" A moment later, the tablet PC arrived in a bright flash of light. Ajax quickly caught it, then keyed his radio again. "Many thanks, Ajax out." After putting the radio away again, Ajax spoke out again. "Computer, create a USB adapter that can be used to transfer files to the ship's memory banks."

An adapter came into being, and Ajax plugged it in. "Computer, transfer all files related to ring transport to the ship's memory banks.

"Transfer complete." the voice said a moment later.

"Very good. Computer, create ring transporter." Ajax stated, pleased. A platform whooshed into existence, and Ajax examined it for several seconds before pulling several coins out of his pocket, and placing them in the center of the dais.

"Computer, initiate transport to nearest eligible set of rings." At Ajax's command, a ring-shaped section of the dais dropped down slightly, then split in half, sliding out of view. A second later, four rings seemed to jump up out of the dais, one at a time, then a bright light flashed through from top to bottom before the rings dropped back into the dais, and the ring-cutout came together and filled the gap.

"Impressive." Tuvok intoned. "But will it work for organic material?"

Ajax walked over to the rings. The coins were gone. "I don't know. I had my doubts that this will even work, but…what's the harm in asking?" Ajax shrugged. "_Phoenix_, did you get my payment of seventy-six cents?"

"Sure did!" Nudge's voice replied through the radio.

"Good. We're going to start trying organic material for actual testing, what I did was just to test the general idea." Ajax replied. He turned to Tuvok, then frowned. "You do have organic canisters or something, right?"

"We have transport test canisters for that purpose." Tuvok replied, voice gruff.

"Good. I'd like four canisters for testing, please?" Ajax replied.

Tuvok nodded sharply, then moved away from the two human-avian hybrids, tapping his commbadge as he did so.

No sooner had he stepped away than there was another whoosh and the Doctor appeared on the dais.

"I appear to have gained some height." he said cheerfully.

"No doc, you're standing on a dais." Ajax informed him.

"Oh." the holographic doctor stepped down from the dais. "What is it for, anyway?"

"It's a transporter system." Ajax said. "In theory, it will work while the ship is in hyperspace."

"In theory?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah…I have my doubts about holographic technology working in a transport situation, having never worked with holography before."

"Well, you should have called in Mr. Paris. He's something of an expert in holography." the Doctor stated.

"Maybe. Why are you here, anyway?" Ajax asked.

"I had made an appointment here, so I could sing an opera in a more…authentic setting." came the reply.

"Well, sing your opera." Ajax responded. "It should prove to be a refreshing change of pace from the usual metal-based music I listen to."

"Really?" the Doctor beamed. "Most of the crew is uninterested in my opera talents."

"Yes, but I'm not stuck with you." Ajax grinned. "If need be, I can just beam back to my ship for a quick metal fix. Besides, I try to think of myself as musically well-rounded."

"So you listen to almost anything?"

"Well…like I said, I like to _think_ of myself as being well-rounded. I'm sadly lacking." Ajax admitted. Just then, the door opened, and a couple of crew members came in with the canisters in question.

"_Phoenix_, we are about to make another attempt with the rings. Please beam them back when you receive them."

"Understood."

"I'm ringing the first one now." Ajax said, placing the first canister on the dais. A moment later, the rings surged up from under the dais, the bright light swept down from the top, and the rings dropped back down again.

"Beaming." Nudge said over the radio. After a few seconds, the canister was returned in a flash of white light.

"Alright, ringing the next one over."

After the four canisters had been returned to Voyager, they were analyzed to see if they were still good.

"Alright, we're good going out, let's trying coming in." Ajax said.

The four canisters were beamed off the ship, and returned by rings, one at a time. In the end, the system checked out perfectly.

On the bridge, B'Elanna was seated at the Engineering console, since Engineering didn't need her in person to oversee volatile equipment.

Tom had just finished with a diagnostic check of the conn, and Seven was going over her sensor data.

At that moment, Ajax walked off the turbo lift.

"The tests were successful. You will find that you can transport from your ship to mine -safely- while in hyperspace." Ajax stated briskly. "I must return to my ship, but before I do, some specific instructions for entering hyperspace in the crippled position: I am going to delay my ship from going through the window for as long as possible. When you see the window open, line up as straight as you can, and go in at three-quarters of the speed of light. From there, just sit back and enjoy the ride! It's that simple."

Ajax clicked the talk button three times, then once, then twice more. A moment later, he was beamed back to the _Phoenix_.

"Alright _Phoenix_, drawing on the data obtained from the Daedalus in their cripple-ship hyperspace boost, set up a jump towards the Borg Sphere." Ajax said, sitting down at the Master Console.

She did as instructed, and opened the window, while Ajax held the ship back from the window. It wasn't easy, as the window tended to suck things in, and Voyager was still lining up. Twelve seconds after the window was opened, the Federation starship entered hyperspace, followed exactly three seconds later by the Phoenix.

"Someone is ringing aboard." Fang said. "I'm detecting…four people."

"Sounds right." Ajax agreed. "I'll meet with them shortly. Max, ship is yours."

After exiting the bridge, Ajax set off towards Deck Seven, using the ladders to drop from Deck Five all the way down to Seven.

As soon as he was safely on Deck Seven, Ajax followed the sound of the Nudge Channel, and found that the captain had brought Chakotay and Be'Lanna as her mystery guests.

"Welcome aboard the _Phoenix_." Ajax said, entering the room. "This ship is the seventh BC-304 Daedalus-class vessel of the Tau'ri fleets, and the first to have extra Asgard equipment installed after the Odyssey event."

"It feel like it came from the 21st century." Paris said, looking around.

"Extremely good guess!" Ajax said, impressed. "She was commissioned in 2007, and finished in 2009. Please, come this way."

The Starfleet officers exchanged glances, then followed.

After going three decks down and moving through a maze of corridors, they arrived in a cramped room illuminated by a pair of green lights. After Ajax opened the door, the officers quickly moved out of the pretense of an airlock, and into the starboard flight deck.

"Welcome to the starboard 302 bay." Ajax said, grandly sweeping his arm out. "The other bay has 302s in it, but since I don't use them very much, I kept this bay empty for sparring and meditation. My crew really enjoys large spaces like this, but will tolerate small spaces for a small period of time."

Ajax had tapped the green button on a small control box near the door, and the red lights hanging from the ceiling activating.

"Pardon the lights, I didn't get them unplugged yet." Ajax said. "There's a shield over the front door, to keep the air in." The Starfleet officers walked towards the doors, gazing out at their own ship, a scant five hundred feet ahead of the ship they were currently on, flying through a tunnel of bright blue light.

While they were gazing out, Ajax had climbed a ladder on the back wall, and was standing on the small platform that had been hung for the use of the Flock.

Ajax quietly took off his jacket, and hung in on a nearby hook, then turned towards the front of the room.

"You wanted to know about the differences in my physiology?" he asked loudly.

The officers jumped, they had been caught up in the wonder of seeing their ship in hyperspace, and it had been very quiet in the 302 bay. After a few seconds, they noticed the platform Ajax was standing on.

Ajax grinned broadly, then tipped forward, falling off the platform. As he passed the halfway mark, Ajax snapped his wings open and flapped powerfully, gaining back some of the altitude lost as he fell.

After a brief demonstration, Ajax lightly dropped to the deck, and folded in his wings.

"So?" Ajax asked, walking over to them. "Do I pass?"

"I wouldn't know how to judge you." Chakotay said, astonished. Of the four officers, he seemed to get over his shock the quickest.

"Are you able to take off without using a launch pad?" Torres asked, almost condescendingly.

"As a matter of fact, I can." Ajax replied lightly. "Why do you ask?"

Her eyes narrowed, she said "Because you left your jacket up there." she pointed up at the jacket in question.

"Oh." came the intelligent reply. "I'll be right back…" Ajax ran forward three steps, wings angled, then leapt up and beat his wings down sharply with as much power as he could.

Upon reaching the platform, Ajax snagged the jacket off of the hook, and deliberately fell backwards off of the platform, righting himself midair. After landing, he quietly folded in his wings, and put his jacket back on before hitting the red button on the control box.

"What are you doing?" Paris asked.

Ajax pointed at the printed words on the door. "We can't go to the other bay while the doors are open, so I'm closing them. I think you'll like what I've got for you to see."

When the reached the bay on the other side, the room was dark. "Phoenix, could you turn on the lights in 302 bay 2?"

The lights came on, revealing twelve F-302 space superiority fighters sitting dormant on the deck.

"They're tight," Ajax said. "but capable of serious maneuvers. I use them for inspecting the hull after a battle, or for confusing the enemy with."

Just then, the lights brightened. "We just dropped out of hyperspace." Ajax announced. "Let's go." he hit the button to open the doors, and grabbed his radio. "Max, you have the ship, Gasman, stay at Tactical, everyone else, scramble the birds."

"What's going on?" Paris asked.

"The Sphere is waiting for us, and your ship is a sitting duck. You can beam back over if you want, or you can try your hand at a 302." Ajax replied. He was very busy running around to each F-302, prepping them for launch.

A secondary door opened, this one a true airlock, and four people rushed out, each headed towards their respective 302s.

Fang was the first out into space, followed by Nudge. Iggy was with Fang, using a special interface in the backseat.

Angel departed after the other two, somewhat slower. As soon as Angel had cleared the doors, Ajax jumped into his 302, which had been decorated with two red stripes at the wing root.

The group briefly held formation, then broke to pursue their own tactics.

Meanwhile, Be'Lanna, Chakotay and Kathryn had all beamed back to Voyager, and were getting their warp core back online, while evading Borg weapons on impulse power alone.

After the first round of Asgard beam weaponry, the Borg adapted to the beam, and modulated accordingly. They had far less luck against the rail gun placements all over the ship, having never run up against ballistic weaponry before.

Finally, Ajax hailed the Borg Sphere, while keeping a line open to _Voyager_ and _Phoenix_. "We are the Tau'ri. You will lower your shields, and surrender your ship to us." Ajax instructed sternly.

After several seconds, the Borg ship dropped shield and powered down it's weapons. Ajax beamed aboard, scanning for the fragment. He was joined, moments later by a team of engineers sent over from _Voyager_ to recover the transwarp coil.

"They seem to be distracted." Ajax noted, pointing at the drones. "Almost like they're having trouble with something."

The coil was removed from the Sphere within ten minutes, as they had Seven of Nine leading them, but Ajax was having a harder time pinning down the source of the signal. Eventually, he found it. It had been crudely jacked into a console, and the entire thing was sparking and shorting like mad.

"That would explain the damage." Ajax said to himself. He drew his weapon, and fired at the console several times, cutting off the power supply to it.

After putting the gun back, Ajax took out a small cutting tool, and carefully cut free the fragment before putting in his pocket.

"_Phoenix_, one to beam over."

He was just in time, because mere seconds after he beamed off the Sphere, the Borg managed to raise their shields again.

"_Voyager_, I recommend you get out of here as fast as you can. They've stabilized their systems." Ajax said, voice thick with urgency.

"What had them destabilized?"

"The artifact I had come for." Ajax replied, holding the dark obsidian up to the light. "Good luck on your journey home, Ajax out."

_Voyager_ went to warp just before _Phoenix_ engaged her hyperdrive, the two ships going in opposite directions.

_And now chapter 5 is done. That took forever! Anywho, Answers to readers:_

_Master of the Blood Wolves: I hated the fact that they just shut it down with no adequate replacement. Maybe the last chapter was egotistical in terms of that, but I'm just pissed that we now have to depend on others to get ourselves into orbit. I do apologize for the disjointed jumping, I'll try not to do that some much in the future. The reason I made a point of mentioning Ramsey was because he's the gold standard of how to be pissed off. He doesn't need anger management, he just need people to stop pissing him off!_

_NinthFeather: I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter, hopefully this one manages to measure up to that high standard. As far as Ajax goes, every bit of feedback helps! I can't adequately keep him in check without your comments. Fang always seemed like a paranoid ninja to me, but that's just me._

_This chapter was brought to you by: Luzianne Tea, Toshiba Satellite laptop, Jango Radio, and Avenging Angels. And now for a word from the biggest sponsor, Avenging Angels!_

**Because of my Southern accent I will no longer say 'yo', but 'What's up yawl?" Jk. But seriously, I do have a Southern accent and proud of it. But enough about me, more about this awesome chapter and the awesome guy who writes them. Hideout Writer! So, don't forget to review!**

**Sincerely,**

**Avenging Angels**


	6. The Shard of the Prophets

The _Phoenix_ surged out of hyperspace before switching back to the Stargate reality. The ship was orbiting a world controlled by the Tok'ra, and Ajax used the ring system to enter their cavern directly.

Several weapons of Goa'uld manufacture were pointed at him before the rings even dropped away.

"Quiet a committee you've got for welcoming people with." Ajax quipped lightly. "I'm not your enemy, and even if I was, there are only six people on my ship."

"We have not seen that style of clothing before." one of them said. She approached the young man who still stood on the platform.

"And you are…?" Ajax stated.

"I am Garshaw of Belote. Who are you, and how have you found our base of operations?" The woman replied.

"Depends who's asking." Ajax replied lightly. It did not go over well with the people in room. "Fine," he said, raising his hands in defense. "My name is Ajax, my ship is the _Phoenix_, and I'm an honorary member of SG-1."

"When did they switch to such uniforms?" Garshaw asked. "And why did our sentries not detect your presence?"

"I ringed in from my ship, and they did not switch to such uniforms. I adopted this style because it was functional and felt professional." Ajax replied. "I was looking to forge an alliance between my ship and your people…I need untainted intel for a project of mine."

"Come this way." she said imperiously. She turned and walked away from the rings, and Ajax followed her apprehensively.

They stopped in a dimly lit room where an elderly gentleman lay in a bed, several blankets piled over him. "This is Marlo and Ja'tek." she said. "They are dying."

"I only see one person there, ma'am." Ajax said. "And I can't cure old age."

"No, but you can become Ja'tek's new host." Garshaw replied.

"So there are two entities there, just not separate. It's symbiosis!" Ajax realized. "So you want me to accept into my systems the symbiont currently residing in that gentleman?"

"That is correct." Garshaw answered. "But the joining must be willing. We are not like the Goa'uld, we do NOT take a host without their permission."

"The Goa'uld…" Ajax mused. "Where have I heard that name before?"

"They took control over much of this galaxy, and set themselves up as gods." Garshaw replied. "We are alike physically, but our ideals are what make us different."

"Goa'uld, Goa'uld…Ra, Anubis, Baal…okay, I'm on track now." Ajax said, snapping out of his thoughts. "Sure, I'll do it."

"Ha!" the old man said, then coughed. "Only if I want you, sonny boy. Garshaw, could you leave us? I would speak with this one alone."

"Very well Ja'tek." Garshaw replied. She left in a swirl of skirts.

For the next hour, Ajax talked with the old man, mainly answering several questions before he finally said "Enough. Go find Garshaw, and tell her that I will accept you."

Ajax nodded sharply, then exited the room. In the corridor, he met another Tok'ra member who asked where he was going.

"I need to see Garshaw?" Ajax said. "Ja'tek sent me."

After he found Garshaw, the Tok'ra performed their ceremonies related to the symbiote passing from one host to another. The rub came when Ja'tek told Ajax to kiss him.

"All due respect sir," Ajax said "but I don't swing that way, and it would just feel morally wrong…I could reference several things from my culture if you want. I could do CPR, which would come close enough?" Ajax sounded so sheepish and apologetic that several people, including Ja'tek laughed. "Very well." he said, after he had finished laughing. "Do as you have said."

Ajax moved to the CPR artificial breathing posture, then lurched backwards slightly as Ja'tek slipped through the old man's mouth and into Ajax's mouth before diving through the tender skin of his throat.

Through a mighty effort, Ajax had managed to not lurch off of the recovery bed entirely, but his sensitive gag reflex did cause him to quickly turn aside to vomit.

When he had finished, Ja'tek took control, Ajax's eyes glowing briefly. "Good bye, dear friend." he said, then lay down to recover.

At that moment in time, Ajax's body had the perfect trifecta of good health, plenty of strength, and youth. His recovery took roughly fifteen minutes, by which time Max had gotten worried and ordered Angel, Fang, and Gazzy to go down with her to the location Ajax had rung to.

The Tok'ra were still standing around Ajax and Marlo when they heard the rings activate. The room was quickly deserted in favor of finding out who had just rung in.

Max quickly found her away team surrounded by several people in cream or sand colored clothing bearing weapons.

Garshaw asked who they were, though from the uniforms they were wearing, it was obvious they were from the ship Ajax had been on.

Max gave no response, just dropped her center of gravity by several inches, bringing her arms up into a defensive stance.

Eventually, one of the Tok'ra operatives deactivated his zatnickatel and holstered it. The reaction in the newcomers was instantaneous, though subtle.

Eventually, everyone had put their weapons away, and Max seemed far more relaxed, not holding her arms up as if to punch the living daylights out of the first person to move.

Just then, Ajax staggered out of an adjacent hallway, clutching his head. "Anybody got an Advil?" he asked. "I've got a million dwarves _and_ a Tok'ra bangin' away on my skull."

"A _what_!" Max exclaimed.

"A Tok'ra." Ajax said, wincing. "And will you not scream? These crackling walls are bad enough."

The other Tok'ra had quickly surrounded him after he had emerged from the tunnel, and Garshaw finally got close enough to ask "Are you well?"

Ajax just put his head to one side and said "Let me check…clear away, I'll need some space…" The others moved away, and Ajax quickly and efficiently checked whether any bones were broken, then finally took off his jacket to check his wings.

Almost everyone in the room gasped in awe as Ajax snapped out his wings, then proceeded to check them for broken bones or dislocated joints.

Max just smirked, then walked over to him with the rest of the away team. "You alright, or does Iggy need to relieve you of duty for medical reasons?"

"I'll be fine after eight hours of rack." Ajax replied. "The headache is already starting to abate somewhat."

"Okay. You're certain?"

"Beyond a doubt. I need to speak with Garshaw for a minute. You can go back to the ship if you want, I'll be fine." Ajax replied.

Max's face betrayed her doubt, but she stepped back onto the dais with the others, and Angel activated the rings.

Their noise caused Ajax to double over in pain, causing several Tok'ra to run over and help support him until he could stand on his own again.

"I was wondering if you and yours would be willing to ring aboard my ship to help fill out my crew." Ajax said. "The computers can't seem to handle it on their own."

"We are not powerful enough to deal with the Goa'uld on our own." Garshaw replied. "I would not want to risk upsetting the careful balance that we have contrived between the System Lords."

"I'm not talking about fighting them. Let SG-1 and the Ori do that. Yaknow…" Ajax trailed off into thought.

"I would not trust SG-1 to take care of them the way we have, upsetting their alliances and making sure none get so powerful they can take over the galaxy. We have maintained their status as a fractured empire, each holding onto his or her share, doing their best to keep it from the others while gaining some of it for themselves."

"So?" Ajax asked "Look at it this way: There are three or more Ori Motherships out there, and the SGC. Between those two forces, even if the entire fractured empire were to join together, they would be doomed. I've heard stories about the Ori ships, able to take on whole fleets on their own. They disabled or destroyed three BC-304s, and several Asgard ships and damaged several ships belonging to the Lucien Alliance. _And_, for the sake of the argument, let's say the varying Goa'uld factions _do_ unite against the rest of the galaxy. They wouldn't survive much longer than a year if they tried to oppose that thrice-damned religion called Origin. I know they would not bow the knee to Origin, and SG-1 has me on a mission to find the key to destroying the Ori once and for all, so in the end…in a convoluted sense, you could just step back from your fight, secure in the knowledge that you've stopped them from becoming an unstoppable force, and it wouldn't make a difference in the grand scheme of things."

Garshaw looked insulted, then contemplative. "What did Ja'tek have to say about that? "

"Uh…he's resting right now." Ajax said. "Maybe more accurately, he thought he was knocking both of us out for an hour or two, but I have a much faster dispersal rate than most people do…the wings have something to do with that."

"I meant to say something about that." Garshaw said. "We've never had anyone like you before."

"I'm a human-avian hybrid." Ajax replied. "This means that I've got a higher healing factor than normal people, stronger, faster, of course there's the wings. The exact numbers are 98 percent human, 2 percent avian, plus my stunning good looks."

A few of the others stifled a chuckle at that.

"Your argument is sound." Garshaw said at last. "We will join you."

Over the next two hours, the Tok'ra were busy un-growing their crystal caves, removing their goods to the ship, and settling in. Ajax assisted by moving precisely one load of goods up to the ship before racking out for the night, giving _Phoenix_ a string to carry out when the Tok'ra had finished moving their belongings aboard.

Nearly eight hours after Ajax had gone to sleep, Ja'tek awoke, and looked through his host's memories to find out more about his new residence.

Shortly after, Ajax woke up, and Ja'tek made his presence known.

"_Finally, you're up."_ Ja'tek said.

"Yep, I'm up." Ajax replied. "And I have no clue what you are doing in my room, or who you are."

"_I am inside you."_ Ja'tek replied. _"I am the one you agreed to host, remember?"_

"Oh, yeah, I remember now. Ja'tek, right?"

"_Correct. Could you spread your wings in front of the mirror please?"_

Ajax walked over and did as he was told. Silence reigned supreme for several seconds as Ja'tek had briefly taken control, and was staring at his reflection, wide-eyed.

After several seconds, he relinquished control back to Ajax, who promptly folded in his wings, and put on his jacket before striding out the door of his quarters.

He stepped onto the bridge, where holograms kept appearing and reappearing. Ajax raised an eyebrow, but chose to other wise ignore it saying "Beam the human to sickbay, leave the other life sign behind, and set a course for DS9 based on the star charts we got from _Voyager_. Max, you still have the bridge." Ajax then strode back off the bridge, headed for sickbay.

Max, who had been getting out of the chair at Master Control, sat back down with a puzzled look on her face.

Ajax arrived in Sickbay just in time to see Iggy treating the man they had beamed up. He was asleep, and Ajax quickly administered a sleeping agent to make sure he stayed that way for another thirty minutes while Iggy dealt with the arm and Ajax quickly cleaned the uniform.

Five minutes before the human was set to wake up, Angel walked in, followed by Fang and Max.

"Hi guys." Ajax said, standing up from his seat. He gestured at the man. "He's about to wake up. What I need you guys to do is either remain silent and just kind of circle around, or you can speak, but only refer to him as 'The Sisko'. I want to mess with him for a few moments, see what's going on in his mind, and if he thinks he's in a vision from the Bajoran Prophets, it might help."

"The Bajoran Prophets?" Max asked. "Who are they?"

"They're a group of strange energy beings that live in a wormhole near Bajor." Ajax replied. "This guy, though human, is their Emissary. Didn't you read the database on that?"

"No." Max replied. "Oh, he's waking up."

After Iggy had finished his job as the CMO, he and Ajax had cleared the room of the beds, and brightened the lights considerably to help with the illusion.

Sisko groaned, and opened his eyes. Wherever he was, it was very bright, and the floor was as unyielding as the deck-plates of DS9. "Where am I?" he asked, disoriented.

"The Sisko is confused." Angel said from behind Sisko.

"The Sisko does not know." Ajax replied.

"How did I get here?" Sisko asked. "Did Dukat finally kill me?"

"He speaks of violence." Ajax said solemnly.

"The Sisko was a prisoner." Angel replied, equally serious.

"The Sisko is no longer a prisoner." Max answered.

"Where am I? What is going on? I need answers!" Sisko cried.

Ajax raised his head from where he was once again seated, and looked Sisko in the eye. "The Sisko is intrusive." Sisko looked like he was about to scream at that, and Ajax followed it up with "And the Sisko has been well-pranked, lights, normal illumination."

At this point, everyone the room was either laughing, or in Fang's case, grinning broadly.

"What was that all about?" Sisko demanded, shaking Ajax by the shoulders.

Ajax instantly turned serious, and slowly looked up at captain Sisko. "We were joking around. Consider it our fee for rescuing you from Gul Dukat, who, by the way, wanted to KILL you! I would have thought that a harmless practical joke would have been preferable."

"And just who are you?" Sisko asked, calming down somewhat.

Ajax drew himself up to his full height, stood at attention, and said "Captain Ajax, at your service sir!"

"How did you know what my visions with the Prophets were like? You did a damn good job of re-creating it for the most part. And why are you wearing Starfleet uniforms?"

"For the first," Ajax said, relaxing slightly. "Classified, and for the second, it feels professional while being exceptionally functional."

"What do you mean, classified?" Sisko said.

"I mean I can't tell you. I can't tell anyone how I know for that matter, and I refuse to bother trying to think about it." Ajax replied. "Walk with me." he strode out of the Infirmary, and onto the elevator.

"If I told you how I know, and for that matter, much of _what_ I know, I would throw the universe as you know it into disarray, and I'm NOT going to do that. Suffice it to say that this ship can change realities as easily as you might change a shirt." Ajax said.

"I see. And what race do you represent?" Sisko asked, waiting for the elevator to open again.

"I and my officers are Tau'ri, as is my ship, but I also have several new recruits from the Tok'ra." the doors opened, and the two captains stepped off. "We are already headed towards DS9 at sublight speeds, have been for the past half an hour or so since we picked you up."

They stepped onto the bridge, and Ajax sat down at Master Control. "Have a seat. Don't worry, it won't bite." he gestured towards the big chair that dominated center stage.

"When will we arrive at DS9?" Sisko asked, sitting down. Max, Fang and Gazzy walked in, and Ajax relieved Max of duty so she could sleep.

"In about five minutes or so." Ajax replied casually. "_Phoenix_, drop cloak, and engage the hyperdrive."

"Hyperdrive?" Sisko asked.

"What do you want me to call it?" Ajax retorted "Warp drive?"

"Yes!" Sisko responded.

"Can't." Ajax replied. The ship jumped into hyperspace. "And that's why. It'll just be a short hop, people, let's get ready to officially meet and greet with the senior staff of DS9." he voice carried a tone of professional urgency that would not be denied.

Sisko was secretly impressed. This crew had managed to pull an elaborate prank, with their captain as head conspirator, and managed to be professional at the same time.

_On the Defiant:_

"Captain, I'm picking up some odd radiation that shouldn't be there." Jadzia said. The sensors had picked up _Phoenix_'s departure into hyperspace.

"We have no more time!" Worf said, angry that he had not managed to rescue his captain. "Set course for the rendezvous coordinates, and engage, Maximum Warp."

"Aye, sir." Several seconds after the hyperspace window had opened, then closed, the _Defiant_ went to warp towards the badlands.

"There was nothing more you could have done." O'Brian said to Worf, trying to cheer him up.

"We should have found him!" Worf shot back. "I do not wish to speak more about it."

Talk turned to other things.

_On the Phoenix:_

About seven minutes after jumping into hyperspace, the ship dropped out, and cloaked again.

"Hail the station." Ajax ordered, stomping the gas pedal. After several seconds, he brought the ship back to a stop, and waited for the station to respond.

"Unidentified ship, this is DS9." came Kira's voice.

"This is Ajax of the Tau'ri warship _Phoenix_." Ajax said. "Does the name Sisko ring any bells?"

"You know about captain Sisko?" Kira exclaimed.

"Yes, more than that, actually." Ajax said. "We're holding him hostage on our ship." He turned to grin at Sisko, who could only shake his head at the young man's antics.

"What are your demands?" Kira stated, voice dangerously low.

"A warm welcome, some real coffee instead of the instant shit I've been drinking for the past three days, oh, and no jail cells." Ajax said. "Your captain was injured when we picked him up, so medical aid was rendered, his injuries were not life-threatening."

"Okay," Kira said, good-naturedly, having realized the joke. "Do you have proof that he's okay?"

"I'm right here, Major." Sisko said. "These people seem to enjoy pulling harmless pranks on people they have just met. They did to me after taking care of my injuries."

"What happened?" Kira asked anxiously.

"I had a broken arm and some plasma burns, but they've fixed me up as good as new." Sisko replied.

"And the prank? Or shouldn't I ask?" Kira responded.

"They did a relatively good simulation of a vision from the Prophets." Sisko responded. "All the way down to calling me 'The Sisko' like the Prophets do."

On the other end, Kira made a sound similar to a half-strangled cat. It was several seconds before Ajax was able to straighten himself out enough to drive the ship over to the station.

"I'm about to de-cloak my ship." Ajax said. "She a cruiser, big enough for a complement of two-fifty, and I'm right outside one of your pylons."

A moment later, an odd rippling distortion appeared, quickly giving way to a very solid ship.

"Ah…wow." was all that Ajax heard from the other side.

"I'm just going to park well outside of standard traffic zones, and transport over if that's alright with you people." Ajax said, backing the ship away.

"Ah…sure, that'll be fine, I'm sure." Kira said, still awed by the ship's size.

"End Transmission." Ajax ordered, and the link cut out. "Round 'em up!" Ajax ordered, standing from his seat. "Everyone's going." Pressing a button on the big chair, Ajax said "Garshaw, Ja'tek says that you'd be the best person to leave in charge while I'm gone, so you officially have the ship until I and my officers return."

"**I understand." **came a bass voice. It was still unmistakably feminine, but also very alien.

"What race did you say they're from?" Sisko asked.

"The Tok'ra." Ajax said. "I'll let Ja'tek explain, since he can do it far better than I." Mentally, he said _"Let him see the eye glow effect. I think it'll really spook him."_

"_I enjoy the way you think."_ Ja'tek replied, then took over.

Sisko was still looking towards Ajax for an explanation when Ajax's eyes glowed yellow for a moment, then faded back to normal, and he took a breath to speak.

"**I am Ja'tek." **he said in that signature tone that all Tok'ra and most Goa'uld used. Sisko jumped.

"What have you done to Ajax?" he demanded.

"**Nothing. I am a symbiotic life-form, without a host, I will die. Ajax agreed to become my new host, since my previous host was dying of old age. As a member of the Tok'ra, I do not steal my hosts the way our blood enemy, the Goa'uld do, but instead receive permission to enter my host. I also do not maintain control over my host all the time, but share control, as well as maintain strength and health. I have access to all my host's memories, and if I wished, I could block out or replace memories at will, though I would not do such a thing unless explicitly asked to. Do you know of people carrying symbiotic life-forms?"**

"Yes." Sisko replied, thinking of Jadzia Dax. "But they don't control their hosts, at least, not that I can tell."

"**Ah, there we differ. However, we do make sure that people can tell us apart so they know who they are conversing with." **Ja'tek replied. **"Come, Kira awaits our arrival." **He bowed his head for a moment, and Ajax returned. "You get everything sorted out with Ja'tek?" he asked.

"Yes, it's a most interesting relationship you must have." Sisko replied, deep in thought.

"I wouldn't know, I've only been joined for twelve hours, give or take, and I spent eight of that sleeping. Can we go now?" Ajax sounded so much like a kid at the end that Sisko chuckled, and together the officers went down to the transporter room where they met Nudge and Iggy. Iggy looked thoroughly annoyed by Nudge, and Nudge was happily going on about something when the door opened, and the group stepped through.

"Captain on Deck!" Iggy said, standing at attention.

"At ease." Ajax replied, at the same time as Sisko. The two captains looked at each other for a moment, then grinned.

Ajax quickly set the coordinates with Sisko's help, arranging the transport so that the group would arrive on DS9's transport pad in Ops.

When they arrived, Kira was pacing in front of Sisko's office.

"Hello." Ajax said, waving slightly.

"Oh!" Kira said, jumping slightly. "You're here. Are you the captain of that vessel?"

"Yes." Ajax confirmed.

"Good." Kira hugged Ajax, who blinked in confusion for a moment before tentatively returning the embrace.

After a moment, she stepped back.

"What was that for?" Ajax asked "Because I think I got left out of the loop."

"That was for rescuing the Emissary." Kira said. She then slapped him across the face.

"Major!" Sisko said, surprised that she would have done that.

"And that was for insulting the Prophets." Kira said.

Ajax thought about it for several seconds, a half amused, half contemplative look on his face. "I guess I deserved that." he said at last.

"Major!" Sisko barked out "My office."

"Oh, sorry sir. There was a lot going on." Kira replied.

"I can see that." Sisko said, shaking his head. His desk had been covered with PADDs relating to various things, and he had work to do. "Next time you need to slap someone, Major, do it on your own time. I'm having you escort these people around the Promenade, try to show them what a good time looks like on this station. I have some work to do. And where is my _Defiant_?"

"She's supposed to be en route to the Badlands for convoy duty." Kira replied.

"Thank you." Sisko stepped into his office, and the doors closed behind him.

"Well, let's go." Kira said. She stepped onto the turbo lift, and the officers of the _Phoenix_ followed her with varying levels of trepidation.

"Promenade." Kira ordered, and the platform began to move.

Major Kira was the last to step off the turbo lift, as the Flock was the first off the moment the doors opened. As soon as they were out into a more open area, Max seemed to start to speak, then think better of it. After doing this twice, Max coughed, and the Flock began to change position relative to Kira every few seconds, ensuring that a clear shot would be extremely hard to get if someone was looking to destroy a specific Flock member. Ajax just adopted an easy holding pattern a meter to Kira's right.

They had only seen one or two shops when an odd-looking man walked towards Kira.

"Odo!" Kira cried out, obviously happy.

"Major." Odo responded, much more reserved.

Ajax studied the man in close detail for several seconds, then went back to the trinket he was examining. Whoever this 'Odo' person was, it seemed like he was wearing a full-body latex suit that even covered his hair. The uniform he had over the suit seemed normal enough though. The voice also sounded a little different, almost like this person did not speak naturally.

Ajax put the trinket back with a sigh, it was nice, and he liked it, but didn't have the money to pay for it.

"So…" grated the voice. "impersonating a Starfleet officer, are you? That's an offence punishable with two or three days in a holding cell. Besides, your uniform is out of date. Didn't you notice the grey shoulders on the Starfleet officers these days?"

"As a matter of fact," Ajax said, turning around slowly. "I did notice the grey shoulders. That was exactly why I went with this style, because this way I wouldn't seem like a Starfleet officer. I chose this uniform for it's functionality along with it's professional style."

"I understand." Odo replied. "I was just kidding. Nobody would believe that you were a real Starfleet officer if you were wearing an old uniform when everyone else is using the new style. I will need your papers concerning your ship, however."

"I'll make it easy for you, sir." Ajax replied. "I have no papers, and the ship belongs to the Tau'ri, of which I am a member. The ship is on loan to me for a mission, after which the ship will officially be mine. I do not have a permit to be in Bajoran space if I need one, but I was hoping that the fact that I brought back the Emissary of the Prophets would convince the Bajoran people to forgive my infraction. I have no cargo, and no dangerously unstable weapons or power sources. What exactly _do_ you need?"

"I need your ship's registry, and Bajoran space permit." Odo replied.

"Ah, he's got special dispensation about the Bajoran space permit, Odo." Kira said, jumping into the conversation. "I gave it to him for returning Sisko to the station."

Odo inclined his head to show that he had acknowledged the fact. "And the registry?"

"USAF dash BC three zero four dash _Phoenix_." Ajax replied. "You can't miss her, she's the ship with no glowing nacelles. Navigation lights are the standard red to starboard configuration."

Odo thought about it for a moment, then said "Can she been seen from the Promenade?"

"Dunno." Ajax went over to a window, and cupped his hands again the window on either side of his head. "Yup. I tried to park her out of the way of everyone else."

Odo looked out towards the ship, the nodded as if in approval. "Uh-huh, good." he turned towards Kira. "And you say he has clearance?"

Kira nodded. "That's right. Sisko cleared him and I cleared him, despite not having papers."

"That's good enough for me." Odo said. He walked off.

"So what were you looking at?" Kira asked, gesturing towards the stall.

Ajax pointed at the trinket in question. "I was looking at that. It's been a while since I've seen that level of craftsmanship."

"That's a nice one, alright." Kira agreed. To the shopkeeper she said "He'll take it. Just put it to Captain Sisko's bill."

The shopkeeper nodded, and said "Would you like it wrapped?"

"No, that's fine." Ajax said. "I'll just wear it."

The shopkeeper nodded again, and handed Ajax the trinket. "Have a nice day."

After Kira arranged for each of Ajax's senior staff to get one item of their choice, they continued on to Quark's Bar.

Having remembered something from the many times he would watch _Star Trek_, Ajax went to the bar and sat down. A short man dressed in relatively gaudy clothing came over and asked "What'll it be for you? And why are you wearing the old Starfleet uniforms?"

"Roctagino, triple sweet, triple cream is the answer to your first question." Ajax replied. "And the second is because I like it and don't need a reason beyond that."

"Okay, okay." the man said, hands up in surrender. "No need to be so defensive about it. The name is Quark, by the way."

Ajax nodded, then reached into his pocket, and withdrew a black box. Quark eyed it with barely concealed expectation. "Ajax to _Phoenix._ Could you run a scan, one AU radius from the ship? Compare the readings with the ones provided from Farpoint II and DQ Section 3-8."

"**Understood."**

"Ajax out." Ajax replaced the radio in his pocket, and Quark looked expectantly at him. "Yes?"

"The money." Quark replied. "Show me the money."

"I have none." Ajax replied.

"Then try the replimat." Quark retorted. "You don't need money there." he moved off to serve another customer.

Ajax just calmly walked back to where the Flock was waiting outside the door.

"I really wouldn't recommend Quark's Bar." Kira said. "It's not exactly the best place on the station, and you can get almost everything you want at the replimat anyway."

"Okay. What do you say, guys? Head for the replimat?"

There was some fierce discussion, and Max seemed to be the real leader to Kira. A nod from Max, and the group set off for the replimat. Kira was talking about something, but Ajax tuned it out. Suddenly, Ajax passed out.

"Kira to the Infirmary, medical emergency on the Promenade!" Kira said, tapping her communicator.

"Is this related to the Tok'ra thing?" Max asked Iggy. Iggy was on his knees, probing various pressure points, trying to determine the cause. "I don't think so." Iggy replied, his voice unsure. "But it's hard to tell. Nothing's broken or anything, he should be fine."

Just then, the Bajoran doctor came around the corner. "What happened?"

"He passed out." Max replied. "No warnings or anything, just…hit the deck."

Ajax was standing in pure white surroundings, looking about apprehensively. The beating of his heart was loud in his ears as he quietly said, to no one in particular "I'm screwed."

The environment changed, and he was back in the School, locked in a cage. "Aw, SHIT!" he roared. Lightly tapping the bars, he determined that they weren't electrified, then he heard a voice speak.

"He is intrusive." the voice seemed female, and was calm and quiet, though Ajax knew that it held power. He placed his feet against the door of his cage, and his hands against the back wall, then pushed mightily with his legs. As he did so, he felt the all-too-familiar rush of fiery ice dump into his veins as the adrenal glands pumped adrenaline into his systems.

The door broke, and Ajax crawled out, prepared to face his captors in battle.

"He is afraid." another voice said.

"I thought I had escaped the School forever." Ajax growled, voice dangerously low.

"He is intrusive." the first voice reiterated.

Ajax looked around wildly, and saw two whitecoats with clipboards, seeming to converse with each other.

"What do you want with me?" Ajax stated, blankly. He had finally managed to shove his emotions down to the point that they would not affect his actions.

An Eraser spoke up from one corner of the room. "He is capable of mastering his emotions, though he allows them to rule at first."

Ajax flinched, then quickly removed his jacket, prepared to fight to the death if need be.

"He is on an epic quest." another Eraser stated.

"He seeks to win the game." the first Eraser replied.

"He needs the puzzle." the second whitecoat replied from the observation booth.

In the real world, Angel was doing her best to read Ajax's thoughts, but all she was able to get were emotions.

"His mind is blocked somewhat" Angel reported. "but based on his emotions, I'd say he's in the School."

"What's that?" Kira asked, confused.

"The School is where we were created. It wasn't really a school, but a lab full of genetic experiments. They were a part of Itex, a corporation that was so big that they had their fingers in every pie across the world." Max replied.

"And what year is it?" Kira asked on a hunch.

"2000? 2010?" Max replied. "Somewhere in there. When you're on the run all the time like we were, you don't really care about the year."

"He seeks to win the game." the first whitecoat said, jotting something down on her clipboard.

Ajax had finally managed to put two and two together, though he hadn't been expecting to come up with seven. "May I offer a correction to that statement?" he asked. The other four occupants of the room looked expectantly at him. "I seek to win a mini-game, a game within the game. If I win the game within the game, then I and my fellow players continue to play the game, if I fail, on the other hand…the game may end…prematurely. Have I put it in a way that makes sense?"

"He is somewhat ignorant of the greater forces." an Eraser stated.

Ajax looked up at this, and made several assumptions. "You are Ascended?" he asked. "Now it all makes sense…you know what the Infinatus vaults hold, and you are afraid that I and the people I work with will use it incorrectly, either becoming tyrants over the galaxy, as the Goa'uld were before us, and as the Ori wish to be now!"

"He speaks of Ascension." the second whitecoat said, punching in a door code.

"What is Ascension?" the leader asked.

"You don't know?" Ajax asked, confused. This threw his logic out the window… "Ascension is when a corporeal being sheds it's corporeal form, becoming pure energy. Those who have Ascended also have many abilities far beyond that of ordinary corporeal beings, such as healing, or kinesis at such a level that they could bring down a starship with little more than a flick of the mind. They could even stop the destruction of a warp core breach from occurring."

"We are not corporeal…" the leader replied, seemingly confused. "You are corporeal, and you can become non-corporeal?"

"In theory." Ajax replied confidently. "Why?"

Just then, a fifth voice chimed in. "There is a Pah-Wraith in the Celestial Temple."

"Need help fighting him/her/it off?" Ajax quipped.

"He speaks of violence." the leader said, seemingly shocked.

"It's what I do." Ajax said simply. "It's part of who I am. On the day that oppression becomes a thing of the past, I will hang up my guns, so to speak, and retire from fighting. Until then, I fight for those who can't find for themselves."

"The Pah-Wraith comes." a messenger said, entering the field of Ajax's vision.

"Great." Ajax replied. "Where'd I leave my gun?"

"You are not the one to fight this." the leader said. "You must return to your own path. Do not tell the Sisko of what you have seen here."

"Very well." Ajax said, bowing.

Max was watching in the Infirmary when Ajax came to.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh." Ajax said, struggling to sit up.

"Careful." Dr. Bashir said, moving over to help Ajax sit. "You were just in a rather lengthy vision with the Bajoran Prophets."

"That's nice." Ajax said, still out of it. "They didn't feed me."

Max snickered at that. "Woulda been food for thought, wouldn't it?" she asked.

"Hm." Ajax replied.

Just then, a Bajoran Orb floated into the room, being followed by Major Kira and Captain Sisko. It settled near Ajax, and remained still for several seconds, before dissolving into mist, leaving a stone fragment behind.

Ajax picked up the obsidian chunk after the mist cleared away, and examined it. "Yup," he said, flipping it over. "Das es."

"What happened?" Kira demanded bluntly. She started towards Ajax, but Sisko's hand on her shoulder made her pause.

"I'm not at liberty to say." Ajax said. "They told me not to share my experience. I imagine that Angel is discovering some extremely tough mental barriers right about…now."

Sure enough, Angel came around the corner, a confused expression on her face. "I can't read your mind at all." she said.

Ajax raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I can get in, and it's not like you're hiding anything, but you're not exposing _anything_ at all. I can't find so much as a single thought."

"So, what's it like in my head?" Ajax asked, curious.

"There's like, an older version of you, but without the wings. There are five other people that I don't recognize, and they seem to be taking orders from the older look-alike. It's awfully similar to the bridge of the ship I'm seeing in captain Sisko's mind."

"Get out of his head, Angel." Max and I said at the same time. She pouted, but complied with the order.

"I apologize." I said, standing up. "Discretion is very rarely the middle name of a seven-year-old."

"I understand." Sisko said mildly. "What was the black rock?"

"It's part of an obsidian tablet that is the key to a puzzle left behind by the Alterrans, some ten thousand years ago." Ajax said. "I guess Morgan Le Fay managed to hide it with the Prophets. A good place, to be honest, and not one I would have thought to check."

"Morgan Le Fay hid that here?" Sisko asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, it would seem that way." Ajax said.

"Who's Morgan Le Fay?" Kira asked.

"Supposedly, Merlin's arch nemesis. The actual history is a bit different. Merlin was an Alterran who had pursued Ascension. Ascension is where a corporeal being gives up it's corporeal form, becoming a being of pure energy. He was working on a weapon of massive potential, capable of wiping out Ascended beings. The Ori are the same breed of beings as the Alterrans, but with one key difference, their ideology.

They set up a religion so that they would gain even more power than they already had by dint of being ascended. The Alterrans didn't agree with this philosophy, and left the Ori galaxy. Because of their 'lack of faith' in the Ori, they were something of a drain on the Ori, and the Ori were glad to see the Alterrans leave.

Now, fast forward several hundred years. It is now Arthur's time, medieval Earth. Merlin guides Arthur, helps him set up the Round Table, and works on his weapon. The Alterrans, not trusting his motives, send Morganna or Morgan Le Fay, however you choose to know her, to stop Merlin. There is something of a struggle, and Morgan Le Fay seals Merlin away. The equipment was destroyed, and that was the end of that. Shortly after that, she was tasked with making the Infinatus even harder to find and access than it already was. She shattered the obsidian key, and move from reality to reality, hiding a piece here, a piece there, essentially, all over the multiverse." Ajax paused in his explanation for a moment to allow it to sink in. "It's made _finding_ the pieces a real nuisance, but I can understand why they might want that. Anyway, I need to be off, thank you very much for you hospitality."

"Wait, you can't just leave!" Sisko said.

"Yeah, I can." Ajax replied regretfully. "And I must. The things that I know about this universe could very well destabilize it. I would rather not have that happen. I'm sorry."

"There's no other way?" Sisko asked. Despite what Ajax had told him, he wanted to know what had gone down in the vision.

Ajax mutely shook his head, then left the Infirmary. "Ajax to _Phoenix_." he said into the radio. "Seven for transport."

_Okay, that's enough chapter for now, I'll get straight to work on the next one._

_Answers to Readers:_

_NinthFeather: Well, if you're reading this, that means that you have just finished the last Star Trek chapter, seeing as how there were only three really worth mentioning. (Apologies to those who like the Original Series or Enterprise.) I'm glad that you were amused, that's what I'm aiming for. _

_Master of the Blood Wolves: Sorry about the raid, I didn't watch that episode of VOY, and so I don't really know what happened. I tried to throw in that twist you asked about, and remember the Defiant-class bridge in Ajax's head that I described in TSoA? This is where it came from._

_Malix2: Despite everything going so easily, people still wonder if I'll finish it. That has more to do with my update speed than anything else, though. I will try to take note of what has been said, and attempt to work it in…of all the things I don't want, a perfect character is one of them. I don't want the Coalition Against Perfect Characters coming after Ajax and destroying him._

_The Layman: I will attempt to work on that, thanks for pointing it out!_

_And now for Beta Commentary with Avenging Angels!_


	7. Desperation

"Go ahead and kill me." the youth said, spreading his arms wide. "You'd just give the 'Sky People' what they want by doing it, so go right ahead." The depressed tone of voice told the disdainful hunter that something was wrong here.

"_Of course things are wrong here."_ he told himself. _"This Sky Person is trespassing on our holy place, and from the ease with which he carries himself, has done so many times before. Somehow he can breath the air without a false face, which is also most unusual."_ His bow was still held as if to shoot the youth as he thought about the situation.

The Sky Person just removed his jacket, a long-sleeved garment that was black with solid red shoulders, and did something with it that caused the article to vanish from sight.

"Since you don't seem to be in a hurry to kill me," Ajax said quietly. "I'll just back off the cliff here if it's all the same to you." He didn't give the Na'vi hunter time to process that before stepping backwards and falling off the cliff.

Shocked, the hunter gently released the tension in his bow, and stepped to the edge of the cliff, looking for the grey and black skins that would indicate where the sad Sky Person was. He was not expecting to see the trespasser _flying_ by means of wings sticking through the grey skin that he wore over his torso.

Whistling for his ikran, the hunter followed at what he hoped was a safe distance from this strange being that truly was a sky person.

_Ajax:_

After escaping the sticky situation with the hunter, I flew at a lower altitude than the other flying creatures did, knowing full well that they wouldn't distinguish between depressed or arrogant. Somehow, four whole weeks had gone by, with absolutely no finds. Ja'tek didn't know how to help, and his attempts to keep me from slipping into depression grew weaker. My officers were getting more and more restless at time went by; it wouldn't be long before someone's nerves snapped.

I shook my head, trying to get the depressed thoughts out of my mind. All I managed to do was wake Ja'tek, who asked that I keep it down while he slept. I acknowledged what he had said, and continued flying. Due to the strange magnetic flux that existed on this world, I couldn't get Phoenix to pin down any one location where the fragment might be, though she was certain it was on the planet, somewhere.

I was snapped out of my musings by a wild cry. Something thought I was dinner. Swearing angrily, I inverted, looking for the source of the cry. I found it, in the form of a giant reptilian creature, swooping down from the great heights after me. I leveled off again, and banked left, towards a massive cliff formation. In the corner of my eye, I saw the Na'vi hunter on his ikran, watching me intently, trying to figure out what I was up to.

As I got close to the cliff face, I inverted again, and dove towards a massive projection, pulling out of my dive at the last possible second, my wings brushing against the outcropping as I sailed past. The massive creature that had been chasing me took the outcropping with a crunching crumbling sound, and I smirked, it was a tactic I had honed in the Grand Canyon a few weeks back, when we were all on shore leave. Due to Max and the rest of the Flock being more maneuverable than the average Eraser, I learned to cut it extremely close so that when I was up against something less proficient in aerial combat, I would be certain to leave it on the unforgiving surface of whatever I was diving at.

After several hours of wandering aimlessly, I gave up, and began a protracted descent into the jungle, checking to see if all my equipment was in working order before I touched down. One thing I didn't want was to be found by a ground-based predator without proper defenses. I checked my flashlight very carefully, seeing as how the Gasman was the one who built it. I know I said flashlight, but in reality, it's a medium-sized laser, with an extremely powerful power source. Seeing that it was indeed functioning correctly help me to breath easier…despite my attitude towards the hunter earlier, dying was literally the last thing I wanted to do in this life. I checked my baffles one last time, looking to see where the hunter had gone, then accelerated my descent rate, landing quietly on the jungle floor.

A moment later, I raised my hands, and quietly dropped the laser blaster.

I was surrounded by more of these hunters, and they all held weapons at the ready. "I surrender." I said, resigned. This day just keeps getting better.

"Why have the Sky People returned?" a hunter demanded, bow pulled back menacingly.

"They haven't." I replied levelly.

"What strange creature are you, having the ability to fly?"

"I'm a human avian hybrid. Put simply, I've got a little birdy in my DNA." I said. "Care to lower the bows?"

He looked surprised, but slowly released the tension on his bow before slinging it across his back. "Why have you come here?"

"I am in search of something." I said. Seeing their blank looks, I decided to elaborate. "The means by which I hope to achieve peace in my galaxy."

This seemed to spark a conversation between the various hunters, before their 'representative' turned back to me. "You will come with us, so that our Olo'Ektan may determine the truth of the matter.""Okay, are we flying there, or walking?" I asked.

"We will fly." the hunter said.

"Okay." I said cheerfully. I scooped up my weapon, and secured it before snapping my wings open, and taking flight.

We flew silently for ten minutes before the hunters landed. Out of habit, I checked the airspace behind me before dropping through the jungle canopy and into the tribe's camp.

The group guarding me was smaller, though I noticed the entire camp seemed to be on edge. I casually put my hands on my head, and started walking when one of the hunter roughly nudged me forward with his spear.

While I was casual on the outside, my insides were churning with worry, should things go south, Phoenix wouldn't be able to get me. I was supposed to head back to the crumbling structures where the interference was minimal for transport. We had dropped a mobile ring dais there for easy transport until such time as we decided to leave.

Just then, the chief walked over to where I was, and sat down. Not knowing what to do, I bowed.

"Stand up." the chief said dryly. "What are you here for?"

"I'm here for an obsidian chunk of rock with runes cut into it." I replied. The chief's mate walked over. At least, I guess she was his mate, but I wasn't completely sure. She had a large stick shaped like a needle, and I looked at it in trepidation. In a flash of movement faster than my own prodigiously fast reflexes, she stabbed me in the shoulder with it, then licked the blood off the tip.

I swore profusely for several seconds, and as I wove my verbal tapestry, I saw the chief grinning. The grin got bigger as I continued.

After I finished, he asked the person who had stabbed me what she had found. This triggered a short discussion, after which he turned back to me.

"If we help you, do you promise to never come back?" the chief asked.

"Yup." I said.

"Great. My name's Jake Sully."

"A human name." I noted.

"Yeah…I was human for most of my life, but the Avatar program gave me this body, and then the Na'vi people performed the ceremony that took my soul from the human body and put in this one permanently. So what's this thing look like?"

I fished out a copy of one of the others I had picked up. "Similar to this."

"Oh, like that." He thought about it for several seconds, then said "We'll leave in the morning. I remember seeing something like that at Hell's Gate."

"Hell's Gate?" I asked. I really didn't like the sound of that.

"Yeah, that the base where the humans first set up when they landed here."

After that, everyone seemed to be relaxed, though wary, and I sat away from the rest, eating my Meal Rejected by the Enemy in silence.

While Ja'tek had worked some sort of chemical miracle that enabled me to breath the air without dying, I wasn't sure that it extended to food, and to a morbid degree, I actually _liked_ the Miracle Regurgitation Engine that they called food. Sometimes I even managed to keep it down.

The next morning I had imaginary pancakes, sans syrup, and we departed for Hell's Gate.

To pass the time, I decided to see if Jake was a proficient aerial fighter, and announced my intentions by diving on his ikran from a hundred feet above.

He managed to get out of my way, and I climbed as fast as I could, knowing that his version of flight would by nature have a harder time climbing than I would.

As I had expected, he gave chase, which resulted in me continuing my climb until he broke pursuit and returned to his preferred cruising altitude.

I smirked, then dive-bombed him again. Ja'tek had been awake at the time, and chose to take over, my eyes glowing as Jake looked up at me.

His eyes widened considerably, and Ja'tek casually flew past, he said **"Feelin'…lucky?"**

He inverted, chasing after Ja'tek while I coolly sat back, waiting for Ja'tek to finish having fun.

He leveled off before giving me control again. I went to maximum altitude, and stayed there, waiting for Jake to make his next move.

Jake returned his ikran to the original heading, altitude, and speed, making no further motions towards playing my game.

We flew like this for three hours, before I saw the shattered remains of a human outpost, with the skeletons of abandoned equipment scattered about.

I had been here before, having dropped the ring platform here when we first arrived.

"There's irony for you." I commented, landing lightly.

"How so?" Jake asked, looking about warily.

"I dropped my rings here when I first arrived." I replied. I pointed to where my 302 sat dormant. "They're sitting over there with my 302, so as to provide fast and easy transport to my ship."

"So that's what we saw." Jake muttered. "I wondered why it was so different."

"It's a space superiority fighter/interceptor, specifically designed to counteract the Goa'uld Death Gliders. Some of the technology used in them came straight from the Death Gliders we captured and disassembled."

"And the irony?"

"Oh, the fact that I dropped my transport rings near the place that my puzzle piece is hidden in." I replied lightly.

We entered the building, and after about ten minutes of searching around, I found the rock and stuffed it into a pocket on my vest. I then saw a garage of sorts, and went in.

"What are these things?" I asked.

"These things are called AMP suits or Iron Ladies, depending on who you talk to. I met a few who were rather attached to them." Jake replied.

"And what does AMP stand for?" I asked, curious.

"Armored Mobility Platform." Jake replied. "You have your rock, right?"

"Yeah." I said. "Do your people…or even the species in general, have any use or interest in these machines?"

"No." Jack said, confused. "Why?"

"Because I think that they look cool, and I was wondering if I could take them with me." I replied. "In my current line of work, an armored vehicle like this might prove handy."

"Then take 'em with you." Jake said. "I wouldn't mind seeing this whole place go."

"Well, I can't take the facility, but I could take five or six AMPs." I replied. I got myself into one of them, and pressed the starter switch.

The machine started easily enough, and I looked up before carefully, gently, used the AMP's arms to close the lid. I then started walking, and got the hang of it rather quickly.

I walked over to the rings, and gauged the width of the rings as compared with the AMP. Unfortunately, the AMP was too wide.

I shut it down and jumped out, gliding to the ground on stilled wings.

"Well, it's too bulky to ring up, so I'll have to disassemble it or carry it by 302...that'll be touchy."

"_If I might?"_ Ja'tek asked mentally. I nodded, and he took over.

"**Where are the tools kept? I can have this machine in pieces in about ten minutes, then ring the AMP up piece by piece."** Ja'tek said.

"Is there something wrong with you?" Jake asked. "You had that voice earlier, when you dived at me, and you had you head bowed a moment before you began speaking like that."

"**It's a long story, but suffice it to state that there are two entities living inside the body. Before you get any ideas, know that it was done with full knowledge on the part of the host as to what he was getting into."**

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." Jake muttered. He handed Ja'tek a tool kit, and, true to his word, the Tok'ra operative had the machine apart enough to ring it up. Finally, we secured the ring platform to the bottom of the 302, and I took over again, giving Jake a jaunty salute.

"See ya!" I yelled, closing the hatch. Ja'tek had reverse the process that allowed me to breath the Pandoran atmosphere, and I had deliberately waited a few seconds before closing the canopy, knowing that the conversion was not instantaneous. Sweet oxygen flooded my lungs once more, and I sighed in happiness. I had the rock, a new toy, and a newfound appreciation for Earth-like atmospheres.

All around me, the atmosphere was fading to black as my 302 screamed towards the heavens, headed back towards the _Phoenix._

"Ajax to _Phoenix_. I have the rock, and I'm sure you've received my newest little toy? I'm on my way in, so could open a door for me?"

"Acknowledged, Ajax." Max said. "Port side is open. Where are we headed next?"

"Home." I replied.

The 302 crossed the threshold just as the ship started turning, pointing towards Earth. The doors closed and the lights came on, though the warning lamps were still engaged.

Even as I watched, massive plumes of air were pumped into the bay, and the lights shut off. A glance at the board confirmed what I already knew: the atmosphere in the bay was acceptable for humanoid life-forms breathing Earth-like atmospheres.

I exited the 302, and walked towards the airlock while gently tossing and catching the fist-sized piece of obsidian. Overall, it wasn't a bad day.

_Well that took forever. Sorry bout that._

_Answers to Readers:_

_Malix2: Ajax was ordering Phoenix to perform a scan in search of the next fragment of the puzzle. One AU is one Astronomical Unit, and the readings from Farpoint II (Third chapter) and DQ Section 3-8 (Fifth Chapter) are related to the signature of the Infinatus fragments._

_Master of the Blood Wolves: Sorry for loosing you there. As for your question about Aragon, very soon. Like, 'next chapter' soon. Sorry for making you wait so long to see him appear in this story._

_The Layman: True that! *grins* The next reality is the 40k reality. Not a kind world in the slightest._

_I'm thinking that the MSES and the CAPC are one and the same, just different branches. The Anti-Cliché people haven't been very active near me though…I kinda warded the place against them._

_Forsaken By All: The obsidian key, as noted in previous chapters, opens a door to an obstacle course set up by Ganas Lal, also known as Morgan Le Fay. At the end of the obstacle course, the survivors are sent to a special gate system not connected to the rest of the Milky Gate system, and controlled by an elaborate obelisk computer program. This story will actually run a bit shorted than my other stories, as I actually have some sort of an outline to work with, and once all the pieces are retrieved, then SG-1 will go through the obstacle course, and get sent to the stasis tomb of Merlin._

_Michelle the Editor: Technicals are good simply from experience. My first story sucked, and has since been removed. You have found the beginning of the series, congratulations! The nice thing about this story is that you don't need as much information about the Stargate as you might need in other stories. Here it's 'big metal circle stands on it's side, acts like a gateway to other worlds in the galaxy. Here's a ship, go across the multi-verse and find an age old puzzle. Have fun!' Okay, it's slightly more complicated than that, but not by much._

_I have noticed that Ajax seems a bit Stu, but am trying to tone that down. More on that later on in the story. I'm glad I haven't set off any major alarm bells, and will attempt to maintain that status._

_Wow, that's a lot to answer today! I hope to keep that up in the coming chapters as I bring The Infinatus back to the forefront of my focus. In the meantime, this is your host, Hideout Writer, telling you to have a nice day!_


	8. The Imperium

The ship dropped out of hyperspace, and Ajax was transported down to the SGC to take on new supplies and drop off the fragments he had.

With that done, Ajax took the helm as the ship lurched into hyperspace once more.

"Here's as good a place as any." Ajax said at last, reaching over to a panel. "All hands, we're dropping out of hyperspace."

With those words, the _Phoenix_ shot out of hyperspace, her engines firing to clear the gap before it closed.

"We're receiving a transmission." Angel said.

"Onscreen." Max replied.

"Audio only, I'm afraid." Angel replied.

"This is the _Contemptuous_. Surrender and be destroyed, xeno scum!"

"As opposed to don't surrender and don't be destroyed." Ajax replied laughingly.

"You will perish under our might, xeno." the voice said.

"Okay, that's cool." Ajax replied, his voice calm. "Would somebody kill the audio on that bonehead?

The voice didn't sound again, and Gazzy's eyes widened comically. "They're firing!" he said. "And their shots are BIG. It's about the size of a school bus."

Ajax muttered darkly under his breath, stabbing the gear selector into fifth gear, and mashing on the throttle.

The ship whined as Ajax rowed through the gears, and Gazzy attempted to return fire. With the pitching and yawing of the ship, it was nearly impossible, and Gazzy gave it up as a lost cause, waiting for Ajax to finish confusing the enemy.

A second ship appeared, and Angel opened the channel.

"This is Aragon the Grey, captain of the _Blade_ _of_ _Scorn_." came a voice, sounding faintly annoyed. "Identify yourself at once."

"This is Ajax, commander of the Tau'ri warship _Phoenix._" Ajax replied confidently. "Any idea why the _Contemptuous_ was firing on us?"

"New around here, are you? You broke the first law of the 41st millenium, don't frak with the Imperium."

"Didn't intend to." Ajax replied politely. "I'm on a mission from Earth, looking for the pieces to an Ancient puzzle left behind by a person known as Ganas Lal. It's a hunk of stone about the size of a human fist, made of polished obsidian. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"I've heard of a few artifacts like that…most of them open gateways to hell or do something similarly unpleasant. It's my job to kill whoever wants to use them; so, explain why your artifact is different, explain what it's doing on Earth and why you need it, or get out of my sight before I blow you into so much molten slag."

"Uh." Ajax explained intelligently, hearing the cynicism in the other person's voice. "Mine is part of a puzzle that opens the path to an incredibly well-protected cache of weapons, physical treasure, and the last known database of the Alterrans, the predecessors of the human race. As for what it's doing here, Ganas Lal scattered the puzzle over the multiverse, so as to better protect the cache. We need the weapons to stop the Ori, a false religion intent on enslaving or destroying us."

"That sounds like it falls under my purview as an Inquisitor. And I don't much like false-deities, service to the Imperium or otherwise."

Ajax smiled up at the speaker mounted in the ceiling. "So…am I about to become space junk, or are you willing to help me?"

"You're about to be relegated to the role of side-kick until either I can't put up with you anymore, -in which case you are on your own- or when this little adventure of yours is done with."

"Fair enough." Ajax said, as the others breathed a sigh of relief. "Should I be setting course for Earth, then?"

"No, you'd be shot down before you reached the Charon Checkpoint. Grab whatever you need, and take a shuttle to bay A-6, you'll be traveling aboard the _Scorn_."

"Understood. Am I allowed to bring my senior staff?" Ajax asked, standing up.

"That depends on who and what you are." Aragon's disembodied voice replied.

Ajax was already grabbing his panic bag, and walking to the 302 bay, pulling on his jacket as he walked.

"Anyone who's wanted, and they'll probably be shot on sight. If they are hideous mutants or any variety of alien, I can't guarantee the more puritanical members of my crew won't take it upon themselves to kill them."

"We aren't _hideous_ mutants…" Ajax trailed off quietly. "Human-avian hybrids…humans with wings and special abilities. We were…designed" Ajax spat the word as if it were venomous "on Earth. We've got a uniform that we can wear to hide our wings or whip them out at a moment's notice and fly off."

There was a long pause as Ajax climbed into his 302, Total settling in behind him. "If that is the case, you will all submit to a psychic examination. If I find anything incriminating, you'll be confined or killed, depending on how bad what I find is. But, if you aren't from around here, that should be a problem. Should it?" the question was phrased innocently enough, but as pointed as the tip of a needle.

Ajax chewed on his lip for a moment. "Very well." he replied. "Just do us all one favor. The first law of the 41st millennium might be 'don't frak with the Empire', or whatever it's called, but the first law when dealing with us is we do not want or need the pity or sympathy of others. On another note, we don't have shuttles, just two seat fighters. We are five minutes from launch. They are lightly armed and poorly armored, so please realize that we pose no threat with them." Ajax said, hoping to not get shot. He secured his face mask, and swallowed as the canopy sealed and his ears popped. He listened to the whine of his engines as they activated, and began preparations for takeoff.

"Oh, trust me, the only 'special treatment' you'll get around here if you're twists is the utter contempt of the crew." Aragon assured him.

"'Twists?'" Ajax queried. "What does that mean? The only special treatment we need is the same respect you'd give to a human being, and about double the food allotment of a regular human, we burn food faster and hotter due to the experimentation done to us."

"Mutant." Aragon explained. "As to respect, I can find the human decency to treat you as a human being. The crew of the _Scorn_? The Imperium's main faith puts any human who's mutated or possesses psychic abilities in the same category as lepers, rapists, terrorists and other brands of unpleasant individuals. Mainly because they usually are. Do not expect a warm welcome, and be prepared to defend yourselves if you happen to find yourselves alone with the noncommissioned officers."

"Hmmph." Ajax replied. "We've been up against Erasers, which are basically werewolves, and unless everyone knows we are mutants, we'll be fine. We'll keep our jackets on at all times to make sure. Departing now." As Ajax spoke, four F-302s screamed out of the port bay of the _Phoenix_, screaming towards the _Blade of Scorn_ in a tight diamond formation.

They landed in the bay, and Ajax whistled lowly in admiration. The bay was simply MASSIVE. He almost could have parked the _Phoenix_ inside, rather than his fighter. He looked around, obeying the hand signals as best as he understood, shuddering in horror as he saw Borg drones moving about, while others in ragged clothes loitered to watch the strange craft or were brought back to order by intimidating overseers, some armed with whips.

The skull seemed to be a significant piece for these people, as their motifs all incorporated the skull. He saw the double eagle, and thought of Nazi Germany, then saw a cog and skull motif. Everywhere he looked, the cog and skull stared back with it's macabre grin from anywhere near anything looking remotely mechanical. _"I sure hope my 302s don't get decorated the same way as the rest of this ship."_ Ajax mused. _"To see their motifs, one would think that death is the epitome of all of their lives."_

He saw bare wiring and brass fittings everywhere, and began to wonder just how the ship stayed space worthy. Any electrical system looked like it could go at a moment's notice.

Then Ajax spotted an imposing figure, whom he assumed was 'Aragon'. He was an imposing figure, standing beneath a door, a silver sword at his hip, dressed in black armor chaised with silver, and a grey cloak.

At his back stood a serpentine creature, with silver-blue scales and a grey-black lion's mane around it's neck, a line of fur running the length of it's spine and ending in a rather impressive plume at the tip of it's tail.

Ajax noted it, wondering if it was a variant on one of the 'Oriental' type dragons, as well as how 'Aragon' had managed to acquire it.

Seeing breathable atmosphere, Ajax began shutting down, sweeping his hand across the board and listening to the systems shutting down. After everything had shut down, he felt the muted rumble as the APU kicked in automatically, and began undoing the restraints.

When he finished, he triggered the canopy, and jumped out, flexing his knees as he landed. He was doing his very best to appear as human as possible.

He opened the APU access, and switched it off, listening to the final turbine whine as it slowed to a stop, then whistled. "Total!" he called. The black Scottie jumped over the lip of the cockpit, and Ajax made his way to where Angel was tossing her helmet into the backseat of her 302. "Round 'em up." he said softly, handing Total to her.

She nodded, and soon the rest of the Flock was forming up near Ajax.

"Well, let's meet this 'Aragon' fellow." Ajax said. "No use delaying the inevitable." He walked towards Aragon, straight-backed and proud, though not aggressive. Four feet away, he stopped and bowed respectfully. "On behalf of the humans of Earth, I thank you for allowing this meeting to take place."

"Cut the crap. You might not feel like they're worth working for if you ever bother to find out about the history of this place." Aragon replied, waving a gauntleted hand dismissively. "This way." he added briskly, indicating the bulkhead door behind him.

"I feel I must warn you…" Ajax said, following Aragon. "The youngest of my senior staff is a telepath. Six year olds aren't known for their restraint, so she'll probably try to probe you. I personally, through trial and error, have managed to raise defenses to keep her out, but I haven't figured out how to get the Borg to stand down, so if you enter my mind, you'll have defenses to deal with. Just letting you know before someone goes in. On the other hand…" Ajax gave a shudder of fear and disgust. "It seems that humanity has already conquered the Borg. How many drones are on this ship?"

"If you mean the ship's compliment of servitors, there's a few thousand. I co-opted them instead of indentured servants. My dislike of slavery notwithstanding, servitors don't rebel, being lobotomized. As to your pet psyker, I suggest you tell her to keep her powers to herself unless she wants to get herself and everyone else aboard this ship killed."

"Telepath, not psyker." Ajax replied. He was about to continue, but Max cut him off.

"Where are you taking us?" she asked, suspicion ringing clear in her voice.

"The bridge. I'd rather have you where I can keep an eye on you, for your sake as much as for my own paranoia that you might do something untoward." Aragon replied.

"I personally am not stupid enough to try anything." Ajax said. "And so long as we aren't imprisoned in dog crates or being experimented on, I can vouch for my senior staff. I assume the psychic examination will take place on the bridge?"

"Assuming nothing unexpected happens, yes, it will." Aragon replied. He continued walking down the corridor, going just fast enough that Angel had to trot to keep up.

"Understood." Ajax said softly. The rest of the trip was spent in silence.

Just as they entered the bridge, Angel said "Thelduin is the most beautiful dragon I've ever seen." in her classic innocent six-year old voice.

Ajax looked worried and confused, as did nearly everyone else.

Aragon's eyes shifted focus for a moment, before he said "Well, that's one less person the ship's astropath needs to read."

"It won't help that we all have special abilities, will it?" Ajax asked softly.

"So long as they aren't mental abilities like telepathy, we shouldn't have any problems." Aragon replied.

"Aren't you doing the reading?" Angel asked, her wide blue eyes peering up at Aragon. Her expression was the definition of innocence.

"If I did the reading, and something went wrong, or you people pulled the double cross, then I would be the first or second one down. By letting someone more skilled at this sort of thing and less adept at combat do it, I'm keeping the initiative squarely where I want it." Aragon replied bluntly.

Ajax nodded in approval. "Smart move." he said quietly. "I'd have done the same if our positions were reversed, even if you didn't look like a threat at the time. I don't have telepathy, but from what Angel has told me, I've got nasty mental defenses. Tell your astropath to beware of the 'servitors' he sees in my mind. They have two modes of operation, assimilation or destruction. In my mind, they work for me, though I haven't quite gotten the hang of managing them yet, but in the real world, they are as nasty as they come. They answered to their Borg Queen, as she is well and truly malevolent. If they touch you, it's game over."

"That's nice." Aragon replied distractedly. It seemed to Ajax as if he'd found the information inconsequential, which made Ajax wonder about what Aragon had seen or done to make the Borg look like a minor threat if they even rated.

Before he could ask, they entered the bridge. As with everything else Ajax had seen, brass was used quite liberally, for everything from fittings to monitor casings, and the macabre skull motif decorating scheme was still present.

The various crewmen were wearing navy blue uniforms that looked like they'd put a Marine's uniform to shame, and were all working on various projects. Ajax thought they were trying hard to ignore the slender woman waiting in the command pulpit.

Guards at the door were fingering their weapons, as if it made them feel just a bit safer, and the man sitting on the command throne was obviously nervous of the woman.

Ajax regarded the woman with a sweeping glance, running through the short list of aliens he knew of with a third eye. Given what he knew, the woman was a mutated human, or a Trellith. Given the conspicuous absence of powder blue scales at the base of the neck, Ajax assumed the former.

"The astropath, I presume?" he asked, indicating the woman in the command pulpit.

"Indeed. My only advice is to not antagonize Madam Kirrilan, she…doesn't get out much." Aragon replied in an undertone.

"Good advice." Ajax replied lightly. "Now, as captain of my ship and crew, I should go first." he added, drawing himself up to full attention posture.

"Just don't try to mine her for information. It won't go well for you, and the cleaning crew does so despise having to clean entrails off the walls." Aragon said.

"Mmmph." Ajax replied. "My mental capabilities are defensive only, and strongly so. At present, so far as I know, Angel is the only telepath in my group." With that, Ajax strode towards Madam Kerrilan, stopping at a respectful distance. "I am first for examination." he said clearly. He hoped he wasn't showing the fact that he was genuinely afraid.

Madam Kerrilan's look told Ajax that she knew perfectly well how scared he was, and then a wave of bone-chilling cold swept over him, and he collapsed. Similar thuds told Ajax that the rest of the Flock had been dealt with similarly.

There was a long moment of silence, as Ajax painstakingly stood up again.

Aragon motioned, and they quit the bridge, Madam Kerrilan walking with controlled relief to the armored dome set below the command pulpit.

Ajax turned to face Aragon as they were leaving the bridge, and he managed to say "I'm loosing control." before he collapsed in a dead faint.

When he awoke, he was on a bed, and Iggy had a concerned look on his face. Aragon wasn't in sight, but that didn't preclude him from being behind Ajax.

They were in what Ajax presumed was the stateroom, and streaky, poisonous green sewage was gliding past the window. Angel appeared slightly nauseated, and Ajax mustered the will to sit up. "Status report." he croaked, his throat dry.

"You've been out for quite a while." Aragon stated. "Tried to do a bit of sleep fighting as well. Mind telling me just what that was about?"

Max piped in, saying "We are currently in what Aragon calls the Warp."

"Sewer of emotion, more like." Angel interjected. "It makes me want to hurl."

"Sleep fighting?" Ajax asked. "I wouldn't know. My dreams had me back on that damn Sphere. I never want to be on a Borg vessel again. Besides, I wasn't on the _Phoenix._ Your ship sounds like a transmission when Max is driving.

Despite the fact that Ajax had just woken up, Max cracked her knuckles threateningly, contemplating the idea of knocking him out again.

Ignoring this, Aragon pressed on implacably. "Borg? Those pseudo-Necron things? Pah, they're pathetic. When you've seen a Necron World Engine, then you've seen what a cybernetic apocalypse looks like. Now, I believe you've mentioned something about some sort of xenos artifact fragment. What is it, what does it do, and most importantly, where do we find the damned thing?"

"Xeno?" Ajax asked, confused. "The Ancients looked human. Rather, humans look like the Ancients. As for the artifact, it's just an obsidian stone with a trace on it. It doesn't DO anything. All I know is that it's on Terra, probably near the South Pole, or in the area of Egypt. A second Stargate used to stand in Giza, before a great deal of history happened." Ajax paused for a moment, and recollected himself. "Anyway, to find it, I just scan for a resonant trace, it's a low-level benign radiation signature. The rock actually glows slightly in a pitch black room." The room fell quite again for a moment, as Aragon stared at Ajax, who worked his mind through the questions Aragon had asked. "Actually, the stone is a fragment of a map and key that opens the path to an obstacle course. Beat it, and you go on to the second course. Rumor has it that a dragon was left as the final obstacle."

Aragon dropped his head into his hands, and massaged his temples. "We've got a real problem then." he muttered.

"Define 'problem'." Fang said suspiciously.

"Your information appears to be at least thirty-eight thousand years out of date." Aragon explained. "The Earth you knew is dead. Has been for at least ten thousand years, and more than likely another thirty thousand before that. Earth is one giant city now, and a lot of ancient artifacts like that have been found, a great deal of them been moved off Throne-knows-where or destroyed. You've got absolutely no idea what you've got yourself into."

Complete silence met Aragon's explanation for several moments before the Nudge channel switched on.

"Yeah, that's a problem. Where do you think this piece was moved to? Where would you have hidden it?" Nudge asked. She had started to pick up steam, but a poke in the ribs by Iggy's elbow served to stop her.

"Well then, we'll just have to see what _Phoenix_ has to say." Ajax said. "She's heading for Earth, and from her last position, should be there inside of a day and a half. If we beat the _Phoenix_ there, I suppose we could try scanning with your sensors, if they happen to be any good."

The look of incredulity on Aragon's face gave Ajax pause. "What?" he asked defensively.

"You do realize that as soon as that ship shows up, the defenses will tear apart your ship like rice-paper, right?" Aragon asked, his tone falsely curious.

"Nah, not unless the defenses have really good scanners. From the looks of this ship, I'd hazard a guess and assume that they don't have what they used to." Ajax asserted. "The construction chiefs back home would be fired if they built a ship like this. Well, either that, or you are incredibly long overdue for a refit."

"You've a right smart mouth, boy. I'd learn a bit of discretion if I were you. The _Scorn_ and ships like her might be ugly, but they are rightly feared as being incredibly durable and packing the firepower to level a city in a single salvo. Many of them have been in service for ten thousand years, and some from before then. This is an age of war. Much has been forgotten, never to be remembered. Forget the promise of technology and understanding, these are the end times. There is no peace amongst the stars, only slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods. You are a very long way from home." Aragon said flatly.

"There's a computer terminal around here somewhere, I suggest you read up on the Imperium's History, as well as the particulars of the other inhabitants of this benighted place."

With that, Aragon stood to leave. "When you're done, let me know. We'll reach Sol inside of two days. We'll undergo refit, then we're going to go and do something incredibly risky to try and retrieve your frakking rock."

Ajax wasn't finished with the discussion, and spoke up. "Durable?" he echoed from Aragon's previous statements. "Sure. Deadly? I believe it. However, I'm willing to be that less than half of the original design works. The _Phoenix_ may be tiny in comparison to your ships, but she'll still bloody a nose if she gets a mind to do so. She's also quick, light on her feet so to speak. Frankly, the _Phoenix_ could teach you a thing or two about maneuvering." Ajax paused for a moment, his eyes flicked from left to right as he thought. "Oh, and she's got a Romulan cloak on board. Before you ask, Romulans look like elves, except always constipated. They almost always have a stick up their ass."

Thelduin paused as she was preparing to follow Aragon out of the room. _"Eyes may be blind, but they aren't the only means of locating prey."_ she said. The words reverberated deep within Ajax, and he took on a slightly thoughtful look.

"Your 'Romulans' sound like they'd fit right in. I'm sure that the Tau would be delighted to know that not every knife-ear in the space despises them, just the vast majority." Aragon said sardonically.

"_Phoenix_ is running on the strength of her processing core, nothing more. I knew a little about this place before stepping into this corner of the multiverse, so I got rid of the crew. There are no minds for telepathic abilities to pick up on." Ajax said, responding to Thelduin's words. "The only noticeable thing is the hyperspace exit window. That will be close to the sun, and she'll clear the area right quick, so it shouldn't be a problem." Ajax said. When he realized Aragon was out of earshot, he mumbled something under his breath, but shifted gears. "Angel, did you catch that telepathic trace?"

Angel nodded. "I wonder what she meant by that." she mused quietly.

"I don't know." Ajax answered. Whatever the dragon meant, it disquieted him, and he didn't like it one bit.

The two days that followed were largely without incident, though Max did wind up killing a man, and severely injuring two others.

Angel informed Aragon nearly right away that someone had been unwise enough to pick a fight with Max, which led to Max being summoned to the bridge for a personal talk with Aragon.

Additionally, the moment that the _Blade of Scorn_ emerged from the warp, Ajax clicked on the radio.

"_Phoenix_, this is Ajax. Do you have anything?"

There was a brief crackle of static, and someone claiming to be the Adeptus Mechanicus began speaking, though Ajax could barely understand a word of it. When he finished, _Phoenix_ spoke up.

"Not sure what that was all about," she said lightly "but the fragment is on the moon. I'm still narrowing my search, but I know what eighth of the moon it is on."

On the bridge, Aragon rolled a glass between his fingers, inspecting the light that refracted through his amasec and savoring the fine liquid. The door to the bridge hissed open, and Aragon felt a wave of deep-seated suspicion roll in.

"Miss Ride." Aragon said, not looking in her direction. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked. He already had his suspicions, but felt like allowing her to tell her story.

"Three of yours attacked me while I was eating." Max answered, a mixture of nonchalance and defiance in her voice. "I think I killed the first one, and left the other two unconscious on the deck. Thought you might want to know, they started it." Her tone shifted to genuine confusion as she added "They called me a 'twist'. Last time I checked, a twist is a pretzel. I fail to see the connection between fighting me and pretzels, but then, my life has always been strange…"

"I take it then, that Ajax neglected to inform you that mutant are persecuted here?" Aragon asked, standing from his command throne and motioning for Max to follow.

The two walked in silence through several halls, and took a short elevator ride to a near-deserted observation deck, massive shutters obscuring the view to the madness of the warp.

"As for a twist, I am aware of the term's use in connection to junk food." Aragon said, picking up as if there hadn't been a silence in the conversation. "In this time, it has another, less tasteful use: it's a slur against mutants. Most of them have been forced to live lives of crime due to the widespread discrimination against them. Mind you, as most of them are innately homicidal psychopaths, bent on unleashing the apocalypse, it's warranted discrimination."

"Well, I'm not supposed to bring the apocalypse. I'm supposed to save the world." Max said snidely. "Anyway, as far as the first guy goes, I made an all day pizza out of his face…I doubt he'll bother me again. He barely had a chance. I knew what he wanted, but let him hit me first to give him the chance to back out. He had a right hook, and didn't have the chance to do anything else."

Aragon regarded Max appraisingly. She was standing in profile to him, gazing at a point halfway up the shutters, her wings hanging loosely behind her. The Inquisitor could sense almost no regret from the young avian about what she'd done, though there was a willingness to repeat the performance pouring off of her in waves.

"This is so much anger in you." he said at last. "If you hear voices telling you to do something, I strongly suggest you ignore them. As far as your assailants go, the chief medic tells me that one is dead and the other two will be in recovery for around six months. As to saving the world…" Aragon took a sip from his glass, looking up at the massive iron-grey shutters. "well, there are countless worlds in the Imperium. For every one that falls, another three take it's place. Don't stress yourself."

"The only voices I hear are Angel and The Voice." Max replied. "I'm nearly convinced that The Voice is nothing more than a living fortune cookie factory, and Angel…well, her mind control doesn't work on me, for whatever reason. Possibly because of The Voice. I'm glad I won't be seeing the other two, but I am sorry that I killed the first guy. My intention was to rough them up enough that word gets around, and nobody tries to mess with me or my family." She fell silent for a moment, as her mind shifted gears. "Oh, what is it with your telepathic-capable people around here? The protection techniques I learned from the Betazoid on DS-9 were useless. Your 'astropath' went through my shields like Venetian glass, and I haven't been able to bring them back up since."

"The telepaths on this ship, indeed, anywhere in this place, are known as psykers. Properly trained, a psyker can level an army. A rather powerful one has been quoted as saying 'I can snap your bones and pulp your flesh without so much as twitching a finger. What is the power of technology compared to that?' Now, the psykers on this ship are all low level, gamma, at most. I rate at somewhere around Delta-plus, but I'm still weak compared to others." Aragon paused to indulge in another sip of amasec.

"You were never trained to fend off psykers. Only the most resolute can do it. It takes conviction and an extraordinarily strong will." He set down the tumbler, and stepped over to Max, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You need not apologize for killing that man." he said, when Max had regarded him with a question in her chocolate eyes. After a moment, he removed his hand, but continued. "He likely would have raped, tortured and then maimed you and left you to bleed out. In the future, should you find yourself in that situation, go for the throat. Better still, get a weapon. Most people here have a knife, and most use chainswords and laspistols. Both are exactly what they sound like, and are among the most common weapons in this universe. They're also only really any use against human-level enemies unless you posses the god-like strength of some of the terrors that inhabit this place. On that note, it would probably be for the best if you ignored your 'Voice'. Even if it sounds the same, it's liable to be imitated by something less than friendly."

"I haven't heard from the Voice in over a year now, since that time we were left in Death Valley to die of thirst in the hot sun." Max replied. "And I don't really need a weapon. If I have permission to kill in self defense, then the next guy to try anything gets the Nutcracker followed with a sharp jab to the throat. I don't put up with that short of shit." Max fell silent for a moment, her eyes losing focus. After a moment, her eyes refocused, and she spoke again. "_Phoenix_ says that she's located the fragment. Apparently, it's on Luna. She's got it down to an eighth of the moon, if that helps any."

Aragon's eyes narrowed. "Your friend, Ajax?" he inquired. "Doesn't take advice, does he?"

"Once in a while." Max replied lightly. "It was on my advice that we didn't simply appear in standard orbit around Earth. Iggy is still working with the Gasman to create a working handheld. It should be more accurate than ship's sensors…but with those two…well, they know explosives better than sensors."

"A reckless one." Aragon sighed. Max knew he was speaking about Ajax. "If he gets into a fight with a Wolfblade or a pack of zealots, on his own head be it." He shook his head, and drained the last swallow of amasec. "Get yourself a weapon. Even just a pistol will do, unless you can punch through a bulkhead without mangling your arm. Yes, that's an accurate description of how hard body armor in this place can be, and that's not even top of the line stuff." Aragon said, walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Max asked, looking at the grey cloak of the retreating Inquisitor.

"Up to the bridge." Aragon said, turning to face Max. "I'm going to flash my Inquisitorial Rosette, and get us to Luna orbit faster. If the fragment is or was there, I believe I know where it'll be. Whether the genetically engineered, fanatically loyal, literally fearless, post-human war machines that are the Adeptus Custodes will let me in to get to it is another matter. Oh, and you can tell Ajax he isn't coming. The Custodes would literally tear him apart if they saw him or any of you. All I will need from you is a description. If I can't find it, _then_ we'll have to do something potentially suicidal."

Max walked to the elevator with Aragon as he'd been talking. When they stopped at the doors, she pulled out a picture. "Is this good enough?" she asked, handing it to him. "This is a picture of the last one we found."

The picture showed a black rock, unnaturally smooth on the face, with what looked like a Tetris character carved into it. The sides were rough, save for one side which was as smooth as the face. Sitting beside the rock was a one cm cube, for perspective. Overall, the rock appeared to be the size of Aragon's fist.

"Didn't you say they were genetically engineered?" Max asked. "What makes them different from us? We aren't _just_ mutants, we were created this way."

Aragon glanced at the picture. "That should do." he conceded, as the elevator began moving up. "As for what makes the Custodes different from you: about thirty thousand years of scientific advancement, the fact that their augmentation doesn't involve extra limbs more often seen in animals, and the fact that in terms of raw power, constitution and intelligence, they're far and away superior to you sound reason enough? I'm not being insulting here." Aragon said, before Max could turn to glare at him. The doors to the bridge loomed ahead, and Aragon continued. "The Primarchs, Custodes, and Astartes are humans magnified by factors of Thirty, Twenty and Ten, respectively."

That silenced the last of Max's objections on that score, and she moved to the next question. "Do you think they will allow you to retrieve it, or should we be gearing up for a fight? Also, right after we came out of the warp, Ajax contacted the _Phoenix._ There was additional chatter, a third party on the line that identified itself as the Adeptus Mechanicus."

"Wonderful." Aragon muttered. "The tech-priests of Mars. This could get dicey. My ship is due for a re-fit, and the Mechanicus picked up you sending unauthorized signals." Aragon growled in annoyance. "This will be a problem. As for the Custodes allowing me to look around the place I think this thing will be in…they might…if I ask nicely. If not, hopefully I won't have to get in a fight with them. They've got a nasty habit of brutally killing anyone who trespasses in places they are set to guard."

"Tech-priests?" Max asked incredulously. She couldn't help herself, and laughed outright. "That's a good one." she said at last. "I've heard of people being religious about their car, but an actual religion? That's too funny. Seriously, how are they aligned? I suppose they'd worship Phoenix, seeing as how she's an A.I. and they have a religion about technology."

"No, the abhor A.I., as in, they will erase any they find, code by code, then destroy whatever the A.I. was inhabiting, just to make sure. Considering that A.I.'s nearly wiped out humanity at the height of their power, it's a valid viewpoint. The Mechanicus believes technology is superior to the human form, but cannot exist without being controlled by humanity. They're charged with finding and maintaining pre-Imperial technology. I guess whoever founded them was an Isaac Asimov fan." Aragon explained.

"Well, the ship is pre-Imperial, all right." Max replied. "And Phoenix can hide extremely well. Give her two seconds warning, and she's gone. I watched her do it once, and when she was gone, all you could see was an extremely intuitive U.I. That's User Interface, if you didn't know. Did you suppose they would like a ship built in 2005?"

A crooked smile twisted Aragon's lips. "I doubt it." he said. "They focus mainly on anything from between the sixth and twentieth millenia."

"This would be before that." Max stated. "So, if they find the ship, what then?"

"Assuming the defense fleet doesn't annihilate it, they'll most likely board, look everything over, take it to Mars, and try to match it to a Standard Template Construct. When they find it isn't from an STC, it wouldn't surprise me if they melted it down. And I put it at fifty-fifty on whether they find your A.I. …and we really shouldn't be discussing this here, go and wait in the stateroom, we'll talk later." Aragon said.

Max nodded, and returned to the stateroom.

"We've got trouble." she stated tersely. "Mechanicus finds the _Phoenix_ and we're out a way home."

"No problem." Ajax said, smirking. "Phoenix, activate Merlin's Cloak, and use the trace flare to track my location. You know what to do. Ajax out."

"Ajax!" Max said sternly. "Get _Phoenix_ out of Sol. Aragon seems worried that our ship may be found. I doubt that's good enough for you, but considering that he's our local expert on this place, I'm willing to back him up." Max paused for a moment, then added. "Of course, if you want to walk home, that's fine with me. We'll just stay here and get Aragon to drop us off back on Earth in our own time when he's got a spare moment."

"Did you somehow miss the explanation on Merlin's Cloak?" Ajax asked. "_Phoenix_ will shifted WAY out of phase. They won't be able to see, hear or hit her."

"Have you been able to put your shields back up?" Max asked innocently.

Ajax shook his head. "No…why?"

"Because the telepaths here are very powerful. According to Aragon, they are capable of killing with just a thought. They don't need to _see_ the _Phoenix_ when they've got a sixth sense that allows them to do stuff like that." Max said.

"They'd need more than their sixth-sense. The warp is phase level one. Surely there is a blank phase for _Phoenix_ to hide in. Probably Delta-Four, as it's relatively close to hyperspace."

"Ajax, I suggest you listen to her." Angel said flatly. "Aragon knows what he's talking about, and he told Max. Probably because he think you respect her opinion. Was he mistaken?"

Ajax considered the innocent-looking science officer, and thought about the situation. "Very well." he said at last. He clicked on the radio. "Ajax to _Phoenix_. Make like a cheap pair of pants, and split. Merlin's cloak won't cut it in this system. Head for the Argo's system, cloak out as far as you can, and sit tight. We'll rendezvous with you there."

"Are you sure about this?" _Phoenix_ asked. "I won't be able to get you out of a tight situation should anything happen."

"I know." Ajax said somberly. "Exchange my 302 for a Jumper, then go. I don't like this any more than you do, but it's our best bet. Engage. Ajax out."

In shuttle bay A-6, a bright light shone around the 302 Ajax had landed in, and the sleek fighter vanished. A moment later, it was replaced with a dull-grey tube, with slanted ends. The strange craft was slightly larger than a minivan, and had a large plate-glass window in the front. An open ramp on the rear sloped invitingly to the deck.

A moment later, the _Phoenix_ decloaked, directly behind a defense tower, then disappeared into a white and blue tear in the fabric of space. Before the guns had a chance to swing fully around, the tear sealed itself behind the wayward vessel.

In Ajax's hand, the radio crackled to life with an oddly synthetic voice, requesting identification on the ship that had just left so spectacularly.

No one answered, and Ajax silently turned off the radio.

"I very deeply hope I was wrong about wanting Phoenix nearby." Ajax said, gravely, speaking to Max and Angel. With a practiced shrug, Ajax put on his Starfleet jacket, and turned to gaze out of the window, looking like an officer with no hope.

Aragon raised the restraints on his seat as the Thunderhawk touched down on the landing pad in the hangar bay of Luna.

He felt his heartbeat running at well above it's standard steady beat.

Of course, he'd worked with the Astartes before, but he'd never had reason to meet with the Custodes, and with his leanings towards recongregation and xenohybrianism, he was fervently hoping there wasn't a telepath among the garrison at this facility.

The boarding ramp lowered, and immediately, he laid eyes on a guard of ten Custodes, with another standing at the end of the two rows of heavily armored god-warriors.

At they're head was a man roughly Aragon's height dressed in the fine black suit, well-tailored cape and tall hat that usually marked an Inquisitor. Judging by his rosette, which was worn openly and ostentatiously, the man was also a Puritan of some description.

"Inquisitor Grey." said the other inquisitor, in clipped, aristocratic vowels. "What brings you to Luna? I'd have thought you'd be refitting your ship, and reading up on cases that require your…particular expertise." This last was said with distaste.

"In the course of my investigations, I'm come across reports that there is or was an artifact to be found here, about the size of a fist, made of obsidian, glows faintly, and apparently is for some form of puzzle-key." Aragon replied. If what Ajax had said about a dragon-guard was true, then he was fairly certain he knew what this 'key' was, or what it would be taken as.

"You seek the Typhus Labyrinth?" the other inquisitor asked sharply.

"Do you take me for having brain rot?" Aragon retorted. "If this thing really is the Typhus Labyrinth, then you can rest assured I want nothing to do with it." he assured hurriedly. "Here, I found this while I was investigating a cult out on the fringe of Segmentum Tempestuous, it's supposed to be a picture of another part of the key." he added, handing over the picture Max had given him.

The other inquisitor studied for a moment, then his beady black eyes found Aragon's face again. "I've never seen anything like this, or heard it's like described, save for a very ancient data-file in this facility. The artifact you seek was stolen a millennia ago, by the Eldar Harlequins. It's probably languishing in the Black Library now.

Aragon nodded. Truth be told, perhaps that was for the best. Nothing would be able to touch the piece there, and the key was probably useless without all the fragments, meaning that the vault or whatever Ajax was chasing was going to stay locked and out of his Aurions -or whatever they were- grasp. The problem would be convincing the infuriating little bastard that the Black Library was impenetrable.

"Very well, I apologize for wasting your time, I'm sure we've both got things we need to be doing." Aragon said with a half-bow. The meeting concluded, he returned to the ship.

The Custodes had stood, still as statues throughout the meeting, their bolter-lances at the ready should he try anything. Their eyes followed him back into the Thunderhawk, and Aragon didn't dare sigh until they were in high orbit. Surely, Ajax would accept that his rock was well beyond his reach, in the most impenetrable hoard of dark and forbidden lore in existence?

Ajax was staring out the window when a rather large craft sailed past, and Angel remarked "Aragon is back, but he does not bring good news."

"Did you really think he would?" Ajax asked rhetorically. "I've been reviewing the sensor logs. The rock wasn't on Luna, but it had been there for so long that the trace elements making it detectable had painted the area. Ever since Pandora, Phoenix has been working on her sensors. If it had been there, she's have found it almost right away, and transported it aboard. That fact that it took her so long to pin it down to one eighth of the moon means that it isn't there anymore. In other words, we'll have to go elsewhere to find it."

Ajax was silent for a time until an officer knocked on the door. "Aragon has ordered your presence in the Observation Lounge at once." he said.

"Thank you." Ajax answered politely. The officer grunted, but left. "We are GO for fun, Houston." he muttered.

Max led them to the Lounge in question, where Aragon was patiently waiting for them. "What happened?" she asked, seeing the look on his face.

"Nothing extraordinary." Aragon replied. "Except that the only thing that went wrong was what I expected. Your rock was stolen a very long time ago by a group of utterly lethal individuals known as the Harlequins. And, it's probably hidden in an incredibly dangerous, well-hidden and ridiculously well-protected library of forbidden lore." he explained. "It's out of your reach, and unless you can convince me that your enemies can actually pose a credible threat to this library's defenders, we're done here."

Ajax sighed wearily, and sat down, a look of irritation on his face. "Okay then, time for a brief lesson about the Ori.

"Point One: They are what Dr. Daniel Jackson, our leading historian calls 'Ascended Beings'. These beings were once human, but have shed human form to live on a higher plane as pure energy. So far so good, right? The Alterrans, from whom humanity is descended, known also as the 'Ancients', 'Gatebuilders', and the 'good guys' did this too. The difference between the Alterrans and the Ori is that of ideology. The Alterrans practice strict non-interference, the Ori do not.

"This brings us to Point Two: The Ori have a pervasive and oppressive religion that funnels power to them. Even assuming their numbers were equal, on the higher plane, each individual Ori being is stronger than each individual Alterran being.

"Point Three: The Ori have invaded the Milky Way Galaxy, and even now are destroying the freedom that the Tau'ri worked so hard to bring about.

"Point Four: Without that key, we can't get the knowledge and weapons that were left behind for us. Without the weapons and knowledge, Earth dies." With that, Ajax fell silent for a moment, collecting his thoughts before speaking again. "We lost three BC-304s in the span of five minutes, against ships the size of this one. They only have one weapon aboard each ship, but it's enough for complete and total exterminatus in three shots. Are you starting to get an idea here? Their Priors are equivalent to your psykers, and nothing can stop them. The Alterrans won't help us, and the Free Jaffa, which are essentially humans on steroids, took heavier losses than we did! We can't survive against the Ori for more than six, maybe eight months, assuming the Alterrans do what the Alterrans do best: run away from problems. Merlin was the only one with the stones to stand against the Ori, and he's been shut down by the rest of the Alterrans. Where is this library? I'll go there myself if I must…or maybe you'd be willing to take your ship to my reality so you can cut down the Ori? One way or another, they need to be ended, and my back is up against the wall."

"You'd be willing to walk into the Webway?" Aragon questioned in disbelief. "That place is a mess. It's a shattered galaxy-spanning labyrinth that pokes halfway into this realm and Hell. The Black Library is a city-sized construct that moves freely through the Webway. I haven't the slightest idea where it is. The only feasible way in is to be invited by the Harlequins, and there's always a catch to that. But, I take your point, these Ori sound a bit too familiar…As soon as my ship has undergone refit, I'll take you to a place where, -if we are really fortunate- we'll be able to find a Harlequin troupe. Whether or not they'll kill us on sight is something we'll discover when we get there." Aragon stated.

"So, we need to find the homicidal clowns to get to a library of distilled evil in order to get the rock?" Fang clarified.

"Pretty much." Aragon replied cheerily.

"Sounds fun." the Gasman muttered. He turned to Iggy, and said something so quietly that only Aragon, Thelduin and Angel heard it, and that was via telepathy. "Bombs ready, you think?" he asked.

"Mm-hmm." Iggy replied equally quietly.

"Cool. At the 302?"

"Probably. Depends on…things."

"It should be pretty easy." Ajax said. "All we have to do is find the rock. We aren't interested in ANYTHING else, are we?

=/\=

_This is the end of Part One of the 'Imperium'. Please tune in next time for part two, where Aragon will probably (almost) kill the annoying featherhead known as Ajax, as well as find the fragment._

_Answers to Readers:  
><em>

_Malix2: And it's been a long time once again. The muse appears to have been considerably locked up as of late._

_The Layman: Despite frequent attempts on my life, I yet live to draw breath and weave new stories and worlds. I am impervious! (...maybe...) As to your question, authorial authority. I didn't feel like slogging through miles of suspicion and various other problems. This is fiction, and I prefer a feel-good story most of the time. If you want angst and despair and all that rot, I hear Stephanie Mayer published several bindings of toilet paper with words on it... Also, on the point about Max and the others being pushed to the side, I will work on that, but please do remember that Ajax is the 'supermain' character. This story is centered around Ajax more than anything else...something of an origins story._

_Master of the Blood Wolves: The Lexicanum is filled with terror, anguish and pain. I'd rather not return there if I don't need to. I am currently under the impression that Warhammer 40k could be summed up as 'All the darkness of humanity, expressed as diversely as possible'. I, for one, am unimpressed with that rotting (or is it rotted?) universe._

_NinthFeather: If Nudge screwed something up, she'd have a breakdown, and we'd all need Counselor Deanna Troi to recover from that. Gazzy on the other hand, would probably wind up spacing half of Aragon's vessel, or the _Phoenix_ if he messed something up. Still, your idea has merit. Perhaps I'll cook something up in my Top Secret Bad Guy Laboratory of Ultimately-Destined-To-Fail Doom. Also, I don't really know what to do with the AMP's just yet...it'll come up somewhere, I'm almost certain of it._

_Forsaken By All: Yes, he did._


End file.
